Donal Og Cusack: Humphries character reference ‘showed a lack of judgement’

Former Cork hurler Donal Og Cusack has identified himself as the second person who gave a character reference to Tom Humphries.

Humphries, a former Irish Times journalist, will be sentenced later this month for grooming a girl when she was 14 years old and sexually abusing her over two years.

Cusack, currently a coach with the Clare hurling team, has said his intention was to “help a human in a dark place who asked me for help”.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday night, he wrote: “I am the sportsman referenced as having written a character reference in the Tom Humphries case.

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“I absolutely condemn the crimes he has committed. I cannot begin to imagine the terrible suffering of the victim.

“I apologise for any hurt or offence caused by my action. My intention was to help a human in a dark place who asked me for help. I showed a lack of judgement in this situation for which I am genuinely sorry.

“I will not be making any further comment and wish to let justice take its course.”

The court heard earlier this month that two character references had been provided for Humphries. Sunday Times sports journalist David Walsh confirmed last week that he provided a reference.

In a statement in last weekend's Sunday Times, Walsh said: "The young girl whose trust Tom betrayed has suffered terribly from this crime.

“I wrote a personal character reference for Tom because we have been friends for 30 years and, despite the serious wrong he has done, I could not abandon him.”

Humphries (54), from Sutton, north Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of defilement of a child in Dublin between December 5th, 2010, and February 19th, 2011, and four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit, obscene or indecent act between January 2010 and March 2011.

Humphries exchanged at least 16,000 text messages back and forth with the girl during a three-month period leading up to March 2011 as part of the grooming process. Humphries is due to be sentenced on October 24th.