Woman critical of State’s handling of her abuse case

A woman who waived her right to anonymity after a man was convicted of sexually abusing her has said the State’s handling of his case “shows a clear disregard” for the rights and safety of the perpetrator and also a “complete absence of concern” for her and those close to her.

Sarah Clancy was commenting after it emerged her abuser, Martin Davoren, had been given temporary release and would serve his sentence at home monitored by private security guards rather than in prison, because he is paralysed.

In March, he pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to 12 sample charges of assaulting Ms Clancy at various locations between dates in 1986 and 1988.

The 61-year-old from Galway, who is a wheelchair user, was jailed for five years in July.

Became unwell

He became unwell as he was being assessed on arrival at Castlerea Prison and spent a period in hospital. When he was discharged, the prison service granted him temporary release rather than committing him to prison.

The Rape Crisis Centre in Galway said it was outraged Davoren had spent no time in jail.

In a statement, Ms Clancy criticised recent media coverage of the case and alleged that officials visiting Davoren’s home had been “accompanied” by journalists. She said if this was true it made “a complete mockery of my attempts at dealing maturely and humanely with what has always been and continues to be a difficult situation for me”.

Ms Clancy was “furious” at how she had been treated by officialdom. She said “disrespectful and illogical” communication had been a feature of her dealings with every State institution, including the HSE, gardaí, the Prison Service and both the Department of Justice and Minister for Justice.

‘Further indignity’

She said she had reservations about becoming publicly involved in the matter again and that she believed there was a risk of “harm or further indignity being imposed on the perpetrator if I personally commented on it”.

“The perpetrator has a right to privacy and security and to be treated humanely. I was worried that any public statement from me might serve to reveal his whereabouts,” she said.

‘Not responsible’

He had been tried and sentenced and was “not responsible for the management of his sentence”.

Separately, it has emerged that just 73 out of 451 sex offenders released from prison in the last three years had availed of a voluntary treatment programme during their incarceration.

Independent TD Denis Naughten, who obtained the figures from Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, said the Sex Offenders Act 2001 was "not fit for purpose and needs to be urgently reformed to ensure more effective management of sex offenders".