Courts / Cork / Report
Retired solider who raped and abused daughters is jailed for 10 years
Summary
Jerry O'Keeffe, a 69-year-old retired soldier from Youghal, Co Cork, was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to ten years in prison for sexually abusing his two daughters. He pleaded guilty to three charges of rape, five of indecent assault, and one of sexual assault. These nine sample charges represented a total of 78 offences committed between January 1980 and March 1987. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed a seven-year sentence for the rape offences and a three-year term for the sexual assaults, ordered to run consecutively. The judge noted that the crimes destroyed the victims' childhoods and that O'Keeffe's guilty plea, entered late in proceedings, provided limited mitigation. He also rejected age as a mitigating factor. O'Keeffe was ordered to be added to the sex offenders register and must liaise with probation services for three years post-release. The victims, Amy Barrett and Melissa O'Keeffe, waived their anonymity and expressed satisfaction with the sentence, describing it as a necessary step for closure and protection of other children. The court heard detailed victim impact statements describing the long-term trauma inflicted by the abuse, which occurred at family homes in Youghal. The sisters reported the abuse to gardaí in 2014 after initial reports in 1999 were withdrawn under family pressure.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Retired solider who raped and abused daughters is jailed for 10 years. Charges or matters: three charges of rape, five of indecent assault and one of sexual assault. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- January 1980 Incident
- March 1987 Incident
- October 2014 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2017-11-06 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: three charges of rape, five of indecent assault and one of sexual assault (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Credit: Collins) A retired soldier who raped his daughter and regularly abused another daughter has been jailed for ten years. He imposed a seven-year sentence for the rape offences and a three-year term of imprisonment for the sexual assaults, to run consecutively.
Places mentioned
- Central Criminal Court
- Catherine's Street
Topics
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