A CORK man who raped his girlfriend’s daughter and sexually assaulted her sister and his own daughter has been jailed for 10 years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
Jeremiah O’Callaghan, a former Army sergeant, sexually abused one of the girls when she was heavily pregnant and on another occasion grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against the wall when she confronted him. She said he would smirk at her “to show he had gotten away with it”.
His daughter described him in her victim impact statement as a “monster” and said her childhood ended when the abuse started.
“I went to sleep in fear praying ‘please not tonight, not tonight’,” she said and added that her prayers were finally answered when her parents split up and her father moved out.
O’Callaghan (54) from Clontarf Estate, Blackrock, Cork, pleaded guilty to one count of rape and nine sample counts of sexually assault at addresses in the city on dates from 1990 to 2002.
Mr Justice Carney ordered that O’Callaghan be under post release supervision for seven years upon his release from custody.
Mr Justice Carney described it as “a heinous crime” that had involved “a breach of trust” but said he had taken into account O’Callaghan’s previous good character and expression of remorse.
Det Garda Seán Stack said that O’Callaghan began abusing his daughter when she was 13 while he was still living in the family home. He said O’Callaghan then began a relationship with the mother of the other two victims and moved into their home.
The eldest girl said she thought O’Callaghan was a nice man and trusted him until she awoke one night when she was 11 to find him touching her. Both girls described how they knew what O’Callaghan was doing was wrong but said nothing because he made their mother happy.
Det Gda Stack said O’Callaghan came to gardaí voluntarily and admitted the offences after one of the girls made a complaint.
Defence counsel Patrick MacEntee SC said O’Callaghan was remorseful and concerned for the girls’ welfare.
His client had indicated he would consider his imprisonment “time well spent” if it helped his victims get over the abuse.
Counsel said O’Callaghan had been in the Army for almost his entire life and had gone on several tours of duty in Lebanon before being honourably discharged.
Following the sentence, O’Callaghan’s main victim, Elizabeth Madigan, expressed disappointment at the length of his jail term.
Speaking outside court, the 25-year-old said she believed Mr Justice Carney should have jailed him for another two years but added she didn’t think he deserved the maximum sentence of life.
She said she and her sister stayed silent for so long to keep their family together and urged others in her situation to come forward. “Don’t be scared, don’t be ashamed. There’s people out there who want to listen and want to help,” she said.
Elizabeth, who was regularly sexually assaulted by O’Callaghan, said he had “robbed her of her life” and she could no longer trust men. She said she was overly protective of her two daughters and felt her name had been “blackened” by members of his family.
She rejected the description in court of O’Callaghan as “a hard working man” and added, “anyone can be a hard working man, it’s what goes on behind closed doors that matters”.