Man jailed for 'despicable' abuse of partner's niece

A Dublin man who sexually abused his partner's niece in a "despicable manner" over 30 years ago has been jailed for nine years at the Central Criminal Court.

In a victim impact statement, Lillian Byrne said that she was handing back the shame and guilt she had carried to the accused.

She said that now 73-year-old John Dempsey Senior was in prison, she hoped she could be released from the prison in her head that she had been in for 43 years.

The court heard that Dempsey, of Derry Drive in Crumlin, groomed Ms Byrne from the age of 12 and abused her throughout her teenage years.

He pleaded guilty to seven counts of raping her on dates between 1980 and 1991 at various Dublin locations.

Dempsey, who has no previous convictions, was 33 years old when he started abusing the victim.

She waived her anonymity so that he could be named.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Paul Burns said Dempsey had "robbed" Ms Byrne of her youth and his actions continued to impact her life.

The judge said that he breached "egregiously" a position of trust and subjected the victim to "repeated and regular" abuse.

He had groomed Ms Byrne, "treated her with contempt" and "sought to control her," Mr Justice Burns added.

He set a headline sentence of 14 years, which he reduced to ten years, after considering the mitigation.

The judge suspended the final year of the prison term on strict conditions, including that Dempsey place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for three years.

Addressing Ms Byrne, Mr Justice Burns said he wanted to make it clear to her that there "is and only ever was one person to blame - the accused".

He said she had been a "young girl" who was "taken advantage of in a despicable manner" and had nothing to be ashamed of.

The court, the judge said, noted her courage in coming forward and expressed the hope that this process, alongside the support of her family, will assist her healing.

Byrne managed to 'escape' Dempsey at 17, court told

A prosecuting garda told prosecution counsel John Moher that the then young girl would visit her aunt and Dempsey at their home during her childhood.

Ms Byrne recalled the offending starting with incidents of grooming beginning in 1980. She said it was "all fun and games" at first and felt "like a fairytale." She said he would tell her they would run away together when she was 18.

She was around 12 years old at the time of the first rape, which occurred in a back room of her aunt's home as the accused showed her "exercises." She described the pain as excruciating and felt shocked that this had happened at the hands of someone she trusted.

Dempsey, Ms Byrne said, continued to tell her she was special and that they would run away together. She said the rapes continued when she visited and she did not realise for years that it was sexual abuse.

The victim said that Dempsey had convinced her that he was her boyfriend and she felt confused. She said he told her she was his princess.

The girl lived at her aunt’s home for a time and the abuse continued daily during this time. She said she would cry in bed with the pain. He attempted to get her to perform oral sex but she could not. He told her she was "useless" but said he would "teach" her.

Ms Byrne managed to "escape" to a flat when she became pregnant at 17 with her partner at the time. The court heard of two further occasions she was raped by Dempsey. She said she felt sick at that time that he still had control over her.

The woman came forward some years later and made a statement about the abuse in 2021. She had the support of her husband at this time and felt strong enough to go to the gardaí.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Byrne told Dempsey that she was a child when he began to groom her and that he had known what he was doing.

She said she could clearly remember the first time he raped her 43 years ago and the effect on her life had been "horrendous".

She outlined the ongoing ripple effects of the abuse on her and her family.

Ms Byrne described how she had sat outside the garda station waiting for the courage to go inside to make a report, which eventually came to her. She told the court that although she was making a victim impact statement, she was a survivor.

Defence counsel Michael Bowman said that his client accepted his wrongdoing and there was no question mark over the truthfulness of the victim’s version of events. He said Dempsey hoped that his acknowledgment of his guilt in this forum would bring some closure to the victim.

Mr Bowman said his client had been in reform school as a child and since leaving there at 14, has been in consistent employment.

He said that Dempsey suffers from ill health. He has lived until recently in the family home but has lost the society of his family as a consequence of his own behaviour.