A retired Army private who admitted sexually assaulting a young boy over a seven-year period, was given a three-year suspended prison sentence at Galway Circuit Court yesterday on condition that he continue to receive therapy and abide by the directions of the Probation Services. John Flaherty (53), formerly of Renmore, Galway city, had admitted in court last April to raping and sexually assaulting a son when he lived elsewhere between 1980 and 1987.
Flaherty had told the court then that he was tormented for years and often thought of committing suicide for what he had done. He said he eventually phoned his victim in London in 1997, and asked to meet him to apologise. However, the victim, who is now 30 and a health adviser, became upset by the phone call and returned to Ireland to report the abuse to gardai.
