A MAN WHO admitted 21 years ago to sexually abusing three of his daughters has not been prosecuted until now because some of the family allegedly forced a victim to retract her allegations, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Francis Duffy (73), a former Army sergeant and father of 12, will be sentenced next week by Mr Justice Paul Carney after admitting to sexually assaulting three of his daughters over 11 years.
Duffy, Ryland Wood, Bunclody, Co Wexford, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting two of his daughters on six occasions each and sexually assaulting another once.
All 13 offences occurred between 1974 and 1985 at the family home in Ballyfermot in Dublin.
The three victims are now aged 42, 40 and 35 years old but were aged from 10 to 11 when the abuse began. He has two other daughters to which none of the charges relate.
One of the women had first gone to gardaí in 1989 and made a statement about her father. When they interviewed Duffy, he immediately admitted sexually assaulting the three girls.
One of the other victims confirmed she had been abused while another denied it due to alleged pressure from her family. The woman who made the statement then said she was lying, causing investigators to decide there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction.
The court heard the allegations had “ripped” the family apart and two of his children took the stand to give evidence in his favour.
One daughter said Duffy had also hurt the entire family but she had forgiven him. A son said he had hated his father when the allegations came out but has since come to believe he was genuinely remorseful.
The three victims read out emotional statements to the court detailing how the abuse had destroyed their lives and how they still felt the repercussions.
One daughter told how in 1989 she made a statement to gardaí about the abuse but was then “blacklisted” by the family and said she was forced to say she had been lying. “I cannot and probably will not understand why it came out so many times and nothing was done about it,” she said.
“When I once again felt the courage to speak out about the abuse in later years, my family was almost instantly split as a result.
“I still hold the fear of reprisal and intimidation which I first felt from certain members of my family when I spoke out before, now that I am speaking out again.”
Another victim claimed her mother and members of her family protected Duffy despite knowing about the abuse. She said she attempted suicide after she was allegedly assaulted for going to see a counsellor.
She told the court that her mother and two siblings told her to deny any abuse had taken place when a detective interviewed her in 1989. She was told she would be “placed in a home” if she told the truth.
Luan Ó Braonáin SC, for Duffy, said his client had made full admissions both in 1989 and in 2006 when the allegations resurfaced.
Mr Justice Carney remanded Duffy in custody.