Man, 92, guilty of indecent assault on sisters in 1970s

Man, 92, guilty of indecently assaulting orphaned sisters in 1970s

Updated / Wednesday, 28 Oct 2026 16:03

A 92-year-old Co Clare man who paid out €60,000 two years ago to two orphaned sisters has been found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault against the two more than half a century ago.

At Ennis Circuit Court, a jury of 11 returned a unanimous guilty verdict in eight counts of indecent assault on dates from 1 July 1973 to 31 January 1975 with two counts related to the younger sister and six concerning the older sister.

One of the sisters was aged nine or 10, while the other was aged eight or nine at the time of the indecent assaults.

The two - now aged in their early 60s - had travelled back from the US and Canada to give evidence in the five day trial and both had returned to their homes before the verdict was delivered today.

One saw the verdict being delivered remotely from her home in Canada while the second sister was travelling.

The jury of seven women and four men took one hour and 42 minutes to reach their unanimous verdict.

Counsel for the State, Sarah Jane Comerford BL said that the accused could be further remanded on bail pending sentence.

Ms Comerford said that time will be required for medical documents to be gathered.

The perpetrator, who requires a mobility scooter to get around, at the time of the offences was aged between 39 and 40.

The trial heard that a €60,000 payout in November 2024 made by the man was part of an overall €70,000 civil settlement concerning the sister's claims of sexual abuse against the man.

The man paid €30,000 each to the two sisters and €10,000 in legal costs to their solicitor. The trial heard that the €70,000 was made with no admission of liability.

The accused man has one previous conviction for the indecent assault against a then 13-year-old boy at the man's home in 1985.

In 2011, the man received a suspended 12 month prison term after pleading guilty to the sex offence.

In the case concerning the sexual abuse of the two sisters, the two lost both parents by the time they were aged five and four, where they eventually came into the care of the accused and his wife in the early 1970s.

'Quasi-father figure'

Ms Comerford said that at the time the accused "perpetrated these offences, he was a quasi-father figure to these two young girls who were orphaned and were vulnerable".

Ms Comerford said the two complainants in the case "had a tragic and complicated start to their lives".

In her closing speech Ms Comerford told the jury that they could convict the accused based on the clear memories of the two complainants; the mutual support of each other’s accounts; that they told each other of the indecent assaults in 1987 and the payment of €70,000.

During the trial, when asked why she waited until 2024 to make a complaint against the accused, the younger sister said that the accused’s wife passed away in late 2023 "and my sister and I always had a pact that if something happened to her first that we would talk to the police about the accused and what he did to us".

The complainant said that she loved the accused’s wife who took them into her care after their parents died.

Asked by Ms Comerford (instructed by State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey) her state of mind before being indecently assaulted by the accused, the woman said: "I was very happy - he always said that we were going to be a family and that is what I was craving since I lost my mum and dad so young".

She said: "I was very vulnerable - I just wanted to be loved."

The jury commenced their deliberations yesterday and took just 33 minutes of further deliberations today before returning their verdict.

Ms Comerford said the case could be adjourned to the call-over of cases next month to fix a date for sentence possibly in December.