Francis Rafferty jailed for rape and sexual assault

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Francis Rafferty was jailed for 10 years after a trial at the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 7 July 2017.

Rafferty pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his younger niece when she was aged between nine and 12, between 2005 and 2008. He admitted sexually assaulting his nieces but said he believed his behaviour was harmless.

A jury convicted him of two counts of raping the younger girl and of sexually assaulting her older sister. He was acquitted of two other counts of raping the younger girl. He had denied those charges.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan noted a Probation Service report which said Rafferty had no understanding of the hurt, trauma or long-term effect of his actions on his victims.