An 85-year-old Co Galway man who raped and sexually assaulted five young girls over an 11-year period has been sentenced to five years in jail.
85-year-old Jack Fahy, who was jailed today
Jack Fahy from Eighterard, Oughterard, had warned his victims that no-one would believe their allegations due to his standing in the community as a former mayor.
At the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Paul Carney said Fahy had perpetrated appalling outrages on the girls between 1981 and 1992 when they were aged between seven and 16 years old.
Supt Michael Curly of Salthill Garda Station told Mr Patrick McCarthy SC, prosecuting, when evidence was first heard on May 9th, that Fahy had a huge interest in nature and he would often take children on nature trials or invite them into his house to see his collection of nature videos and other items he had collected.
He would regularly give the children 20p after he abused them and sometimes he would give them sweets.
Mr Justice Carney sentenced him to nine years imprisonment for the counts of rape and suspended the final four years to take account of his frail health and the disgrace he had suffered in the community.
He imposed a sentence of four years to run concurrently for the remaining counts of sexual assault.
Fahy, dressed in a beige jacket and wearing thick-rimmed glasses, cupped his hands to his ear throughout the sentencing in an effort to hear the judge's comments.
He pleaded guilty to the charges in advance of the trial but sentencing was adjourned yesterday to allow lawyers for the prosecution to consider the precedence for sentencing such an elderly person.
Judge Carney said he derived from the previous cases, which included an 84-year-old man who was sentenced to three years in prison for sexual abuse in 2000, that Fahy's age did not prevent him from imposing a substantial term of imprisonment.
Fahy told gardai that one of the girls "brought it on herself" but also he said he was truly sorry to his victims and apologised for his "wandering hands".
Mr Justice Carney said that Fahy's behaviour was a "grave breach of trust" towards the victims involved and their families and that his actions had enormous and continuos effects on the women involved.