Former Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) president Gerard O’Mahony has been jailed for three years and three months for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman more than a decade ago.
O’Mahony (67), of Murphy Place, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, had denied a charge of sexual assault on a date unknown between January 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2010, but was convicted unanimously by a jury after a trial at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court.
Sentencing O’Mahony on Tuesday, Judge Eugene O’Kelly paid tribute the woman for delivering a “poignant victim impact statement”. She said she was just 14 when she first met the defendant and was “ready to expose the full extent of the harm Gerry O’Mahony caused – not just in the moment of the sexual assault but in the years of suffering that followed”.
“It is difficult to articulate in words, the sense of having body, my trust and my sense of security taken in a single night ... It transformed every breath, every step, every moment that followed but because silence has helped to protect the wrong person for too long,” she said.
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“The panic attacks come without warning. My chest tightens, my vision blurs and suddenly if feels like my mind is turning against me. I am fighting to stay present, fighting against memories that I can never seem to outrun.”
During the trial, the woman said O’Mahony sexually assaulted her after spiking her drink. She had called him to ask for a lift home, which he had told her to do so if she was ever unable to get a taxi.
“I did have drink taken, but I had my wits about me. He kept insisting I have a drink, I said ‘No, no, I’ve had enough’ but he kept insisting and eventually I gave up and said I would have a vodka. He went into a back room and came out with a drink,” she said.
“I had a couple of sips. I felt a little bit rocky. I said ‘I’m f***ed after that, I’ve had enough’ ….. I ended up lying on my back and he asked me did I want to have sex, I said ‘No’ ... I felt dissociated, it was an out of body experience.”
She said she came to with her leggings and underwear around her ankles and O’Mahony performing oral sex on her. She said O’Mahony told her ‘it was just a bit of fun’ but she told him it was not.
She said he text her the next day asking if she remembered the previous night and she said she did not. He later sent her a photo but she could not open it. When she met O’Mahony later that day, he showed her a photo of her vagina on his phone. The woman told him to delete the image, but he refused. It was later found on his phone by his wife and daughter.
Det Sgt Peter Clifford, of the Waterford Protective Services Unit, told the court the woman reported the matter in 2022 when she saw a message from O’Mahony on social media seeking support to become IABA president in which he spoke about respect. She challenged him about what he had done.
Gardaí arrested O’Mahony on August 26th, 2022 and he denied the allegation, Det Sgt Clifford said. The court heard O’Mahony had no previous convictions other than one for a minor traffic matter.
Defence counsel Colman Cody said his client did not accept the verdict and maintained his innocence. He said O’Mahony disputed the suggestion that he had spiked the woman’s drink. He asked that the judge impose a lenient sentence because of O’Mahony’s age and poor health.
Judge O’Kelly noted a number of testimonials from people in Dungarvan, where O’Mahony had helped organise the boxing club and worked for the local community, and said these were mitigating factors as was his previous good character.
However, he said there were also a number of aggravating factors including the breach of trust, the huge age difference, the fact he encouraged the girl to have more drink knowing she was intoxicated and incapable of giving consent, and the fact he took a photograph.
He said he believed the offence merited a headline sentence of five years, but he reduced it to four years on foot of the testimonials and suspended the last nine months on the basis of O’Mahony’s age and poor health.
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