A brave young woman has waived her right to anonymity in order to name the stepfather who sexually abused her for over a decade.
Former soldier Thomas Mullarney, 61, was jailed for 12 years yesterday for the horrific assaults that began when the victim was six.
The prosecution indicated to the Central Criminal Court that Terri Mullarney, 22, was willing to be identified.
Thomas Mullarney of Cahir, Louisberg, Co Mayo, said he suffered abuse as a
resident of Ireland’s industrial schools.
He pleaded guilty to sexual assaults at a house in Dublin on dates between October 2003 and January 2005 and also admitted child rape at a house in Co Mayo on two occasions in November 2011 and in September 2014.
The court heard Mullarney would molest his stepdaughter while forcing her to watch adult porn.
Ms Mullarney was 13 when he raped her after giving her wine to drink. The next day he told her he was nervous about her getting pregnant and told her to take her mother’s contraceptive pills.
The court heard in August 2014 she went to her stepfather after a row with her boyfriend. Mullarney gave her tea and half a sleeping tablet and she awoke later to find him raping her.
After she went to gardai in 2017 the man admitted the offending.
He said he was abusing cocaine and alcohol at the time and didn’t remember all the alleged incidents but told officers he accepted the victim’s account was reliable.
Mary Rose Gearty SC, defending, said her client was institutionalised by his treatment at Artane and Clonmel.
She said he later received compensation for the abuse and spent the money on alcohol and cocaine.
Mr Justice Michael White said he found it difficult to understand how anyone who had undergone that ordeal could visit it on another child.
He paid tribute to Ms Mullarney’s courage and said the only person responsible for the abuse was the perpetrator.
Reading from her victim impact statement, she told the court the assaults were an aspect of everyday life during childhood.
Mr Justice White took into account the guilty plea as “an important acknowledgement to his stepdaughter of the serious offending”.
He imposed consecutive sentences totalling 14 years and suspended the final two years on strict conditions.
