Son secures protection order against his father after he spreads false claims about his mother

Gordon Deegan

An adult son has told a court that his mother has never touched him, raped him or made any kind of sexual advances towards him.

At the Family Law Court, the man made his comment before securing a Protection Order against his father after telling the court his father has created a false narrative that he has had sex with his mother.

In a statement grounding his application for a Protection Order read out in court, the man said his father played to the man’s brother “recordings of what sounds like me and my mother having sex”.

The man told the court: “I want to make this very clear - my Mum has never touched me or harmed or raped me or made any kind of sexual advances towards me - ever.”

The man said that after his father had played the recording to his brother the previous day, his brother came to him upset “and told me that he knew I was being manipulated and he was on my side no matter what but I had to admit to the truth”.

In the statement grounding his Protection Order application, the man said that his father “was telling my siblings that they needed to convince me and my mother that if we both admit what we did and sign a legal document that he prepared that I would be safe and my mother would avoid 10 years in prison”.

The man said that his father warned that if his mother “would not sign this document, he would call the gardaí and she would definitely get 10 years”.

He said: “While my father was insisting that everything was being done for my safety and personal protection, the document was mostly concerned with him fully receiving the family assets and none of the children in the family could ever have contact with Mum again unless we received our father’s permission."

The man said that what his father has been saying “about me is not true.”

He said that his father has created “a false narrative” about him.

He said: “He has been scaring my siblings into believing that I am a very vulnerable individual, very depressed and going to harm myself, which I am not. I don’t want him saying those lies about me to my siblings."

The man said that his father "has actively tried to destroy my life and paint me as a vulnerable individual while actively working to divide me from the people that I love”.

The man said that his father said that he only began making the recordings because he believed that our mother was having an affair, which is why he began recording in her room.

The man said that his father said he believed "that I was being abused, which led him to record in my room”.

The man said that his father’s presence in the family home “has been stressful for me as I was already afraid of him since I found out he was recording me in the privacy of my own home”.

He said: “I feel I am being monitored once again and he is using his power as my parent to monitor and control me and push a narrative about me which is not true."

In court, Judge Adrian Harris granted the man a Protection Order against his father after hearing his evidence.

Judge Harris said: “I am satisfied that the threshold has been met to grant you the Protection Order.”

However, Judge Harris cautioned that the Protection Order won’t prevent the father from spreading what his son sees as false stories about him.

Judge Harris told the man he should seek legal advice on what legal remedies he may be able to carry out to address this.

Judge Harris adjourned the case until October, and the Protection Order will remain in place until then.