Seamus Marley jailed for raping two teenage boys

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

Seamus Marley was sentenced to an operative seven years in prison at the Central Criminal Court for raping two teenage boys. Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed the sentence on 2 May 2019. The proceedings were reported on 2 May 2019.

Marley pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting and anally raping the boys in Co Louth in the early 1990s. After a six-day trial, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on six counts of sexual assault and two counts of rape.

After hearing evidence on 29 April 2019, Mr Justice McDermott remanded Marley in custody. He subsequently imposed concurrent and consecutive prison terms amounting to the seven-year operative sentence.

During the trial, Detective Garda Seamus Nolan told defence counsel John Fitzgerald SC that gardaí had no intelligence of Marley’s involvement in any paramilitary organisation until the complainants came forward. He also said Marley had never been arrested for alleged subversive activities. Marley had no previous convictions.