Cork man who raped his sister when he was a teen is jailed for two-and-a-half years
Niamh Herbert speaking to the media outside the Central Criminal Court today. Image: Dan Linehan
A 47-year-old man who sexually abused and later raped his younger sister when he was aged between 12 and 16 was jailed for two-and-a-half years today.
As Emmett Baylor was jailed, his sister Niamh Herbert encouraged people who were victims of such crimes to talk to the gardaí or, if they did not want to pursue the matter legally, to talk to a doctor or a counsellor or their local Rape Crisis Centre.
“If I can do it, you can do it, you have everything you need inside of you. Speak out, tell somebody, they will listen to you and there is support out there. You will be heard,” Ms Herbert said.
Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford said of Emmett Baylor: “The first offence was committed when he was 12 and had just turned 16 when it finished. He was an emotionally immature teenager. Maturity and the developmental reality of the accused have to be taken into consideration.” Setting the headline sentence at seven years, which would have been set for an adult committing the crimes, this was halved because he was a juvenile and further reduced by another year because he had not come to adverse attention in the 30 years since it happened.
His name now goes on the Sex Offenders Register.
Concluding the sentencing, Ms Justice Lankford said: “Sentence on an adult would be more significant. Bearing in mind his age at the time, the sentence of two-and-a-half years is appropriate.” Speaking after the sentencing, Niamh Herbert said: “I was just a young girl when Emmet Baylor trapped me in a cycle of fear and abuse and made me a victim. I have lived with the pain and shame and have carried the secret for years.
But I am glad I kept going. I stand here today, not as a victim, but as a strong woman, who has got her long overdue justice. The jury gave me justice when they came back with the guilty verdict. Thank you for believing in me.
“The power of naming the person who abused me - naming the person who should be carrying that shame and taking that shame off of my shoulders.
“To anyone who has been harmed by another person let me tell you that you are strong, that you have everything inside of you to keep going – speak your truth, people will listen, people will support you and you will be believed.” Thanking the Victim Support at Court Service, the gardaí and in particular, Detective Garda Yvonne Cashman, Ms Herbert said she had an overwhelmingly supportive response since she waived her anonymity last week.
She also recalled the times she spent sitting in her car outside garda stations trying to find the courage to report on what had happened to her from the age of six, at the hands of her brother Emmett Baylor, and said that the guards will be there for people who makes their complaint.
Asked about the feeling she had today as the sentencing was concluded, she said:
Detective Garda Yvonne Cashman said sexual assaults and rapes were carried out on occasions when she was aged from six to nine, and he was 13 to 16, the age difference between brother and sister being just over six years. The rapes occurred in the latter part of this three-year period.
They were both adopted. Their father gave a character reference for his son.
Det Garda Cashman said Emmett Baylor, 47, worked with Irish Lights, but had lost his job as a result of this case. He is not married and does not have children.
Defence senior counsel Alice Fawsitt said the defendant did not accept the guilty verdict of the jury. She asked for as much leniency as possible.
Niamh Herbert presented her own victim evidence last week. “I was just a little girl when you started to abuse me, and made me a victim. You trapped me for years in a cycle of fear and terror. Countless nights I lay in bed frozen in fear, counting footsteps, terrified of what might come next and those memories haunt me to this day.
“Your abuse was calculated. You knew exactly what you were doing, and you knew it was wrong. I carried your secret for years. The shame, the blame, the unbearable weight of your crime was sat on my shoulders.
“At just 13 years old, I turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain and quiet the torture in my mind. I was angry and empty, drinking to blackout, crying myself to sleep. I would wrap my scarves around my face, put my head inside my pillowcase and hope I wouldn't wake up in the morning.
“From 2018 onwards I spent many nights parked outside the Garda station, willing myself to find the courage and strength to walk inside and tell them what you had done to me. In the end, it wasn't courage or strength that made me take that step. It was guilt. The crushing fear that you might be hurting other children.
"I knew I would never truly rest unless I spoke out. I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't.
“I would like to thank the jury for believing me, bringing justice through a guilty verdict. I will finally have peace knowing I did everything I could to speak the truth. I hope that from this day forward Emmett Baylor will never have the opportunity to harm another person again.
“I want to acknowledge all of the professionals who worked on this case inside and outside the courtroom, especially Detective Garda Yvonne Cashman.
“I'm forever grateful to the family that stood by and supported me through it all. My husband Paul, my brother Martin, Norma and Sarah. To my dear friends also, you know who you are.”
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