Marital rape victim tells court she had to fight 'false allegations to Tusla and the guards'

By Declan Brennan and Isabel Hayes

A victim of marital rape has described how she had to defend her reputation against “false allegations to Tusla and the guards”.

Tracey Jessop made her comments as part of her victim impact statement in the sentencing hearing of her former husband, Joseph Jessop, who was jailed for 10 years on Friday.

Jessop waived her right to anonymity so Jessop, formerly of Newtown, Tyrellspass, Westmeath, could be named.

After a trial at the Central Criminal Court last May, a jury convicted Jessop (45) of rape and oral rape of his estranged wife on February 2nd 2021.

He was also convicted of raping her on March 29th 2021 and of assault causing her harm in November 2020.

He had denied all the charges.

Detective Garda David Mead told Paul Carroll SC, prosecuting, that the couple met while in their teens, got married in 2008 and had six children.

They established and ran a business together, but by 2018, the relationship was coming to an end.

They continued to share the same house but were pursuing new relationships, the court heard.

The first assault took place in the family home and began as a row. Jessop grabbed her by the hair, pinned her down and punched her around five times to back of her head and headbutted her.

She was hospitalised and sustained swelling to her face, a cut over her ear and a bruise to the back of her head.

In his evidence to the jury, Jessop claimed someone else had carried out the assault.

During the February 2021 incident, Jessop demanded sex. When Ms Jessop said no, he picked her up, threw her on her bed, raped her and orally raped her.

She testified that as a result of the oral rape she was gagging and ended up vomiting. This incident went on for about 90 minutes, the court heard.

A month later, Jessop demanded sex, which the woman refused. He then picked her up, and she tried to elbow him off, but he kept shushing her, the court heard.

Jessop was scared and tried to crawl away from him, but Jessop pinned her down and raped her.

She later told gardaí: “I think I just zoned out at that stage, I just wanted it to end.”

After the attack ended, Jessop contacted the HSE and social services and made complaints about Ms Jessop drinking and the state of the house. When a social worker called later that day, Ms Jessop disclosed that Jessop had raped her that morning.

The woman made a complaint to gardaí. Under questioning, Jessop initially claimed there had been no sexual activity for at least three weeks.

When DNA evidence was put to him, he said there was consensual sex and claimed he had not understood the questioning.

Carroll outlined that the man gave evidence that “there was plenty of consensual sex around that time”, a claim the victim vehemently denied during the trial.

Jessop has six previous convictions, the most serious for common assault.

The garda agreed with defence counsel that Jessop had no convictions prior to the breakup of the relationship. He also agreed that the couple were both hard-working people who had built up a business together.

Defence counsel said Jessop came from a good family. She said he became addicted to cocaine and has since lost the business.

She asked the court to take into consideration the fact that the offending took place against the background of a “chaotic and catastrophic dissolution of a marriage and relationship”.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said that the “horrendous acts of violence” carried out on her left her feeling worthless and disgusted.

“For the last five years it has felt like my mouth was glued closed,” she stated.

She said she lived in fear of not being believed and fear that, when he was out on bail, Jessop would come back and attack her. She said she suffered stress and anxiety from having to defend herself against false allegations to Tusla and the gardaí.

Sentencing Jessop on Friday, Judge Sean Gillane said he agreed with a prosecution submission that Jessop used “every opportunity throughout the trial to belittle Ms Jessop” and use “demeaning language” about her.

He noted the jury found Jessop's answers to gardaí about consensual sex to be “nonsense”.

The judge noted that during the attacks, Jessop tried to refuse his advances, pushed him away and even crawled away from him.

He said Jessop's actions against her were not just a serious breach of trust but a “disregard for her dignity as a human being”.

He said it was an aggravating factor that having raped his former wife, Jessop proceeded to call Tusla and make “baseless allegations” against her in an effort to ensure she would not be believed.

He set a headline sentence of 11 and a half years, which he reduced to 10 years, taking mitigating factors into account. He noted there was little in mitigation, given Jessop's lack of guilty pleas, but that he had a good work history and no serious previous convictions.

He backdated the sentence to when Jessop was convicted last May.

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.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.

Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.