Father and three sons guilty of over 100 counts of sex abuse, rape

DellyBelly

These days there are very few things that would shock you but this story https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2023/0525/1385615-court-abuse/ is absolutely appalling . How was this level of abuse allowed to carry on for so many years? It's like a scene from the movie Deliverance...yet it happened here in Ireland those children must be totally messed up.

Apiarist

Because it is an exclusive or an isolated community that was allowed to have special treatment? Give some group (e.g. priests) exclusive powers, the abuse follows. Prevent Traveller family's kids from interacting with social services, same.

Beasty

Thread title updated to reflect the crimes committed

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120639681#Comment_120639681

I don’t think that’s a reasonable explanation tbh. Minority groups are vastly over-represented in terms of interactions with social services. It doesn’t come to light precisely because of the discrimination and prejudice minority groups face from wider society - the victims are afraid to report to the authorities because they don’t trust the authorities either. It takes an enormous amount of courage to report their abuse to the authorities who more often than not are unwilling to intervene -

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/eleven-members-of-traveller-family-suing-state-for-inaction-over-rapist-father/41809210.html

https://www.newstalk.com/news/calls-investigation-failings-around-james-oreilly-case-1031685

Gatling

Sick bastards

Boggles

The oldest man's wife, who is the mother of the three other defendants, was found guilty of assisting one of her sons to conceal the rape of one of the victims, her granddaughter

Lets not leave out this evil bítch.

"Assisting" was beating her own daughter into silence with a chimney sweep.

Apiarist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640225#Comment_120640225

Discrimination is a form of special treatment too. If this wasn't a Traveller family, Tusla would be all over the case.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640275#Comment_120640275

I know what you mean, and it’s reasonable to assume that would be the case, but in reality it’s not, because between Tusla and AGS they’re too busy pointing fingers at each other for who’s ultimately responsible when cases like this come to light. See the numerous cases of abuse in foster families where “lessons have been learned” (the only lesson that appears to be learned is ‘do better to conceal your lack of action in the future’).

TooTired123

This is only the tip of the iceberg.

rogber

Men showing their worst side as usual. Appalling story

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120639681#Comment_120639681

You can hardly say this is isolated to any of the groups above

its all over the place

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640301#Comment_120640301

If you only spent a very short time working closely with a broken Traveller family then you would see how it is for not only AGS and TUSLA but also the schools the GP Barnados etc and anyone else associated with the children, trying to take the children to a place of safety.

Any word from Senator Eileen Flynn on this, or is she still complaining about her taxi driver?

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640326#Comment_120640326

I see, as in one big homogenous group...

Makes sense, thank you for your exceptionally helpful input on this matter.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640339#Comment_120640339

I spent the guts of 20 years working in the area of social care and I’m still very much involved in education and ensuring minorities have access to education, healthcare and employment. I’m not sure what you’d qualify as a short time to recognise or experience something but it’s entirely moot when it just doesn’t matter as it’s irrelevant considering people who would have worked closely with those families for decades apparently weren’t aware of what was happening until they could no longer simply avoid the issue.

nachouser

Those poor kids, jesus. I'm sure this will be a meaningful discussion, though.

RonanG86

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640228#Comment_120640228

The chances that the husband was beating the crap out of her and that played a part in her assistance are a fair bit more than zero.

Jequ0n

Interesting case. I am curious how widespread this is in sheltered communities that are wary of outsiders. I wonder how much evidence they have or if the parentage of the incest derived child is one of the key elements for the case. I guess we’ll never find out.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640225#Comment_120640225

I'm inclined to agree based on limited local experience. We have a good few travellers around local town here, some in a halting site but more in houses. Harder to judge post covid but previous to that, the waiting room in the local GP would have several on any given day. They be on medical cards etc and just pop over anytime a child has a bit of this or that or the other.

So quite likely social services, GPs and teachers etc know well enough but even if they do report, little gets done. Part and parcel of being a traveller I guess. That's the way of life and some/ many are keen to keep it.

joseywhales

It's kind of unbelievable that people can get to a level of debauchery beyond anything an animal would do. Our capacity for evil is beyond imagination.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640537#Comment_120640537

Yeah what was her childhood formed by anyway?

Potential-Monke

Let's not be making any excuses for these scumbags. I don't care what happened them. Raping a 8/9 year old girl multiple times a week until she was 18, from 4 abusers which were her brothers and father, beating by her mother for her to stay quiet... these are the actions of pure and utter scum. I've no doubt there may have been more involved. Hanging the **** by their genitals would be too good for them. Scum, scum, scum. Flay the fuckers alive.

walshb

Just deranged!!!

a fooking horror movie couldn’t get worse..

Long Sean Silver

this abuse was/is probably inter-generational. people don't just wake up one day and decide to do this sort of thing. my guess is this level of depravity has been handed-down the generations.

and before we get too much on "our high horse" here in the settled community, let's never forget there has been a long litany of obscene abuse committed over many decades by our so-called pillars of society.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640560#Comment_120640560

First of all there are a huge amount of people who suffered horrendous childhoods, full of neglect and abuse, ignored by the people who should have looked out for them, but then chose not to visit the same on their children. When you give this woman and others like her a “pass” like that then it helps no one, to be honest. You can be understanding about the background to the abuse, whilst at the same time forcing people to take personal responsibility for their decisions and choices.

If only to give good example to the next generation and to give the victims in this case and all the cases (many to come) a sense of justice being done and their hurt and suffering being acknowledged, then we shouldn’t go down the road of patting mammy on the head and saying “sure, you didn’t know any better”.

Nobody know more than me the suffering of traveller women, and their children, at the hands of the men they married, and other traveller women through long held generational grudges, spite and jealousy.

DJIMI TRARORE

I take it that this isn't part of their culture,a slow painful death is what they deserve,sick fcuks

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640680#Comment_120640680

I’m glad it’s the top item on the news. Hopefully it will give hope and confidence to the many other victims from that community suffering in silence to the point of suicide that they can come forward and will be believed and steps taken to bring their abusers to justice.

This is a long time coming and this family and the O’Reillys last year are only the tip of the iceberg.

If you’re reading this and your a victim of abuse from within your own family and you have been threatened to be quiet for the sake of the family name, I urge you to go to the Gardai and tell your story. It has to end here.

osarusan

It must have taken some courage to come forward, considering the dynamic of traveller families as well as the scale and prolonged nature of the abuse.

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640680#Comment_120640680

Not scum, human beings just like you.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640849#Comment_120640849

There’s no difference between settled people and any other community. The vast majority of abuse of children over 90% comes from within the family, from close relatives and people very well known to the children.

This is not a them and us situation.

The problem for travellers is that the pressure to keep it all very quiet and in particular not to tell the Gardai is far more severe than it is for settled people. The family name is sacrosanct. more important than the health and well being of the children, for many.

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640927#Comment_120640927

Nah. Only scum can rape children. We may both be human, but they're human scum.

rogber

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640537#Comment_120640537

I'm sure she was a victim of the scumbag father or other men in the community to be bullied into it.

Former Former Former

How can you be convicted of 20 counts of rape and be allowed out on bail?!

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640982#Comment_120640982

That’s our legal system. If you want these things to change then you as a citizen have to lobby your local TD mercilessly and in an organised manner in order for that to happen.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640953#Comment_120640953

The victims here are their children and grandchildren.

BorneTobyWilde

Sometimes you can't say what you want to say, so it's best to say nothing, as that is how it works here.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120641047#Comment_120641047

Unfortunately this is far too common.

growleaves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640953#Comment_120640953

Well in that case there must have been a miscarriage of justice because the jury has effectively rejected that she was acting under duress by finding her guilty of assaulting a child and concealing the rape of a child.

This breaks my heart. 😪

Long Sean Silver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120640936#Comment_120640936

i would respectfully disagree. sadly abuse occurs in all strata of society. i would say Travellers are no more or no less likely to suffer from it than anyone else. when a victim is abused, the control and manipulation aspect is no different.

JP Liz V1

Vile Scum even Castration too easy

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120650190#Comment_120650190

We haven’t heard about it in the travelling community until now because until recently it was unthinkable that any traveller would go against the family and report a crime to an authority figure.

Social workers Gardai teachers GPs would all spot all the signs but any efforts to investigate were met with either the family packing up and moving away (as you see in this case) and/or screeching accusations of racism and bigotry aided and abetted by the usual virtue signalling do nothings.

This is the second high profile case of incest and sexual abuse featuring a traveller family and I know of another which is going to take a couple of years to gather all the evidence and is being fought tooth and nail by the accused father assisted by his 12 sisters who know perfectly well what he did to his own children, their nieces, because he also did it to them.

But the family name and their pride in it and their standing in the travelling community is easily more important than the health and well-being of the victims. They would also be scared of any investigations into their own families

This family were inspired to come forward and reach out to the Gardai following the successful prosecution of James O’Reilly 3 years ago for similar crimes.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120650337#Comment_120650337

Oh I don’t doubt any of that, I’m just saying I don’t think the problem is anymore prevalent amongst travellers, domestic abuse is indeed more prevalent or general disrespect towards women

...Ghost...

Absolute vile scum. Jail is too good for them. I don't care what your background, ethnicity, or culture is. Castration and daily beatings followed by a life time of isolation in a cold cell is what they deserve before they go to hell.