William Kavanagh sentenced to 17 years and six months for 59 offences

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

William Kavanagh, 67, was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to 17 years and six months after being convicted of 59 offences against his former wife and her younger sister. The court suspended the final 12 months of the sentence. Kavanagh had pleaded not guilty to the charges and, the court heard, does not accept the jury’s verdict.

The convictions included three counts of anal rape of his former wife and 56 offences against her sister, who was a teenager during some of the offending. The charges against the younger woman ranged from sexual assault to oral, anal and vaginal rape. The offences took place from 1996 to 2006 in Waterford and Wexford, the court heard.

The judge imposed seven years for the offences against Kavanagh’s former wife and a consecutive term of 12 years and six months for the offences against her sister, then reduced the global sentence by two years before suspending the final year. Both women gave victim impact statements; the court heard they wished to remain unnamed.