Man jailed for the sexual abuse of his niece over 40 years ago

By Eimear Dodd

A County Westmeath man who sexually abused his niece over 40 years ago has been jailed for six years.

Gerard McCarthy (64) pleaded guilty to 24 sample counts of rape and 24 sample counts of indecent assault on dates between 1979 and 1985.

The injured party, Catriona Mahon, indicated she was waiving her right to anonymity so McCarthy of Clonlost, Killucan, Co. Westmeath, could be identified in reporting of the case.

The Central Criminal Court previously heard that Mahon was seven when the abuse started, while McCarthy was aged 17. The abuse continued until Mahon was 13, the court heard.

Reading her victim impact report at an earlier hearing, Mahon said her uncle started to sexually abuse her when she was a little girl and “exposed me to a world of pain, confusion and silence”.

She said he told her to be quiet and “that’s what I did and continued for the last 40 plus years of my life”.

She said what should have been “happy memories” of staying with her grandparents became a nightmare and her “new normal” was to be frightened and to try to stay awake at night.

She said she has carried feelings of shame and of being different all of her adult life.

“Even after today, I won’t wake up tomorrow feeling any different. I never thought I’d have strength and courage to see you punished,” she said.

“People say I’m strong and brave. I don’t feel that way. I feel sad for my lost childhood, which was filled with horror and sadness,” she said. “I hand you back the shame. It was never mine to carry all these years, it was yours.”

Imposing sentence, Judge David Keane said the court was “in no doubt” that Ms Mahon “is indeed a person of great strength and courage” as she made a complaint to gardai and participated in the criminal process.

The judge noted that the shame lies solely with the convicted man, and he wished Mahon well in her continued recovery.

Judge Keane said the aggravating factors included the “high degree of the breach of trust”, the fact that the injured party was a “young and defenceless child”, the pattern of “persistent, remorseless offending” over a protracted period of time and that considerable harm caused to the injured party.

The judge noted that the most significant mitigating factor was McCarthy’s early admissions of guilt which were followed up by entering signed guilty pleas at the District Court, the earliest possible opportunity.

He also said the court had taken into account the fact that the man was 17 when the offending started, and would give a “limited allowance” for his lack of maturity upon turning 18, while noting that the abuse continued for another five years until McCarthy was 23.

Having considered McCarthy’s personal circumstances, Judge Keane imposed a sentence of seven years with the final 12 months suspended on strict conditions for two years.

The judge also directed McCarthy to take part in a sexual offender’s rehabilitation programme if deemed suitable while in custody and imposed a two-year post-release supervision order.

An investigating garda previously outlined that the abuse took place while Mahon was staying over at her grandparents’ house.

The injured party said the first incident she remembered occurred when she was seven, and she woke up McCarthy performing oral sex on her.

She turned over and pretended to be asleep.

The first incident of rape took place after the first indecent assault. McCarthy had tissues with him, which he used to clean her up afterwards, the court was told.

The abuse continued regularly and ended when the injured party was 13.

The injured party later told her husband and made a complaint to gardai in March 2025. McCarthy was voluntarily interviewed the following August, and made full admissions.

He has no previous convictions. The investigating garda agreed with David Hayden SC, defending, that McCarthy was fully co-operative and came forward on signed guilty pleas from the District court.

Hayden read a letter of apology from McCarthy to the court, in which he said he was ashamed of himself and “will always be sorry”.

Hayden said his client has several medical issues and his marriage broke down as a result of these matters coming to light. He said his client “lived with this for many years” and has been “anticipating his arrest for 40 years”.

Counsel asked the court to consider the contents of a probation report, that his client is assessed at low-to-average risk of re-offending.

McCarthy has a long work history, primarily in landscaping, and more recently as part of a Tidy Towns CE scheme.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.