A woman who was raped by her stepfather on her 15th birthday has waived her right to anonymity to allow him to be named.
Anthony Byrne (55) was found guilty following a Central Criminal Court trial in May of two counts of raping Kim Jordan, now aged 36, in 2002.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Jordan said Byrne had blamed her during the trial for his actions.
“I felt humiliated and shamed as you portrayed me to be some kind of teenage sexual temptress,” she said.
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Byrne, of Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10, had come into Ms Jordan’s life when she was quite young and the court heard the relationship was significant for her as they were close when she was a child.
“After spending my very early years wondering why my biological father wasn’t around and why my family was broken, I felt as though my prayers had been answered and I finally had the family I longed for when Tony came into my life and that I finally had a dad,” she said.
“Little did I know his plan was to use me for his sick sexual pleasures and would go on to ruin my life.”
The court heard the offending occurred when Ms Jordan was in Spain on the day of her 15th birthday in 2002 and a few months later in her family home.
Ms Jordan made a complaint to gardaí in 2018 and outlined what had happened. She said she decided to go back to the apartment to have a shower before dinner while on a family holiday in Spain. Byrne was drinking a beer and while they were playing cards he asked her if they could play strip poker.
He later asked if he could enter the bathroom to use the toilet. He then dropped his shorts and insisted on washing Ms Jordan with sponge. She said she was very embarrassed and started crying. She had clothes laid out on the bed and then Byrne said he was going to dry her.
He put his hand on her shoulder, put her back on the bed and then raped her. She said she zoned out and became completely numb and was wishing she was dead. She said she still remembers looking at the woodchip wallpaper as she faced away from Byrne during the rape. She said she was worried she would become pregnant.
The second count of rape on which Byrne was convicted happened some months after the trip to Majorca. Ms Jordan said Byrne came in and took off her trousers and underwear and tried to penetrate her but was unable to do so.
John Byrne SC, defending, said his client never denied having sexual contact with the girl but denied any allegation of rape.
“Mr Byrne must respect the verdict of the jury but doesn’t accept it,” he told the court.
Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring noted that Byrne had said he was “having an affair with his teenage stepdaughter”.
She said she was not in a position to impose a sentence on Byrne until July 31st due to the late submission of documents.
The judge also noted recent changes in the Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Bill meaning people convicted of a sexual offence must have character references made via oath or affidavit at sentencing hearings. However, defence counsel objected to this and Ms Justice Ring agreed the law only applied to those convicted following the passing of the Bill.
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