A Connemara father who began raping his daughter when she was only nine years of age has been jailed for 11 years by Mr Justice O'Sullivan at the Central Criminal Court.
Patrick Naughton (49), of Cinn Mhara, Camus, Co Galway, was convicted by a jury on 18 sample charges of raping and buggering his daughter from 1987 to 1993 and on one charge of raping her on June 19th 1997. She told the media that she wanted him named publicly.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan criticised what he called a "totally improper approach" on behalf of Mr Bobby Molloy TD, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, or someone purporting to represent him, asking him if he had received a communication from Naughton's sister.
The judge said that a female who called him said she represented Mr Molloy and asked if he could be telephoned at home. He declined the suggestion and said he was very surprised that someone "of the status of a government minister" would make such an approach.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan, who referrred again to this after passing sentence, said he told the caller he could not discuss the case with anyone at that stage of the proceedings and that it was quite improper that any such approach should be made. He had also said that all communications in a case should be made through the court registrar.
The judge said he wanted to make it clear that the Constitution provided for justice to be conducted in public and there was no question of any "behind-the-door" work taking place.
When Mr Patrick J. McCarthy SC, defending, told the judge that Naughton's sister had asked counsel if the court had received an "affidavit" from her, he recalled that two letters had been addressed to him.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan said he had not opened these letters and had handed them unopened to his registrar, Mr Liam Convery, but had told both Mr McCarthy and counsel for the prosecution, Mr Patrick Gageby SC, in open court that he was quite open to them knowing the contents.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan said he had seen nothing and would see nothing else at that stage of the proceedings other than reports directed by the court.
When Mr Gageby suggested that the letters could be returned to the sender, they were returned to Naughton's solicitor, who handed them to a person in the public gallery.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan ordered that Naughton's name should be put on the registry of sex offenders and that after serving his sentence he was to remain under post-release supervision for 12 years. He must also inform the gardaí where he was living after he left prison.
During the 12 years of post-release supervision he was to report monthly to a probation and welfare officer and tell the officer at any time if he planned to leave the jurisdiction, how long he intended to remain outside the jurisdiction and when he planned to return.
Failure to abide by these conditions could result in 12 months' imprisoment or a €1,000 fine or both.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan refused leave to appeal conviction or sentence.
The jury returned its unanimous guilty verdicts on day seven of the trial in October last year after 4½ hours of deliberation spread over two days.
Naughton had pleaded not guilty to all the charges and told the jury in evidence that the allegations against him were "all a pack of lies".
The court heard that he many times threatened to kill his daughter by throwing her in a bog with a stone around her neck, so that she would never be found, and that he had almost choked her to death on the night of June 19th 1997 when he picked her up from work.
The 23-year-old victim told Mr Justice O'Sullivan she was glad the proceedings had come to an end and said all she had wanted was for her father to accept responsibility for what he had done to her, but instead of that he had put her through a seven-day trial.
"This brought back all the pain I experienced over those years as well as the embarrassment of having to tell my story in front of everyone in the court and the fear he would not be found guilty."
She said she had just wanted "to live to this day so that my voice could be heard about how his actions destroyed my childhood and teenage years and also scattered the family apart".
She said she had no friends while growing up because her father had kept her away from them. She could not have friends, like other people of her age, because she had nothing exciting to talk about except pain and sadness. "My father's actions imprisoned all my young life," she said.
She told Mr Justice O'Sullivan that she still had nightmares about the night of June 19th 1997 and what might have happened if she had died that night. She was not looking for revenge but wanted "to get through to him what he did to me and to know why it all happened to me".
Det Garda Diane Murphy told Mr Gageby that Naughton was born in England but had returned to live with his family in Connemara when he was three. He had been separated from his wife since before the trial.
She told the court that Naughton first raped his daughter in the family home on a Sunday morning when she was nine years of age while the rest of the family was at Mass. He then told her the facts of life. The rape and buggery continued constantly until she was 15.
The victim did not make a formal written complaint until September 1997. She had collapsed at work on the morning after the final rape in June 1997 and Naughton had visited her in hospital, threatening that he would kill her if she complained about what he did.
The woman told the jury she had prayed that she would come out alive the final time her father raped her on June 19th 1997, after he had almost choked her in his car. "I felt so depressed. I felt I was going to die at that stage. It was the worst day in my whole life."
Her father had visited her in hospital twice in the days following and wanted to rape her again there in the bathroom because the story about him sexually assaulting her "was out". He threatened her that after he spent some time in prison he would be back, and she was not to forget that. He ran off when she began screaming. She rang the bell for help after he left.