Third person in court over child neglect and ill treatment

A third man has been charged in relation to the neglect of eight children, at various locations throughout the city and county over a five-year period.
The man (47), who cannot be named for legal reasons, was brought before Galway District Court on Wednesday morning. Garda Denise Kelleher had arrested him the previous afternoon at his home in the Midlands, and he was subsequently charged with 44 counts of neglecting or ill-treating eight children in his care, contrary to Section 246 of the Children Act 2001.
He made no reply to any of them, the Garda told the court.
Inspector Kevin Gately advised Judge Mary Fahy that the State had no objection to bail being granted, albeit with strict conditions, and on his own bond of €2,000 and an independent bond of €5,000, half to be lodged in each case.
The conditions are that he signs on every Saturday at his local Garda station, surrenders his passport, has no contact with witnesses or injured parties – with the exception of his two biological children – provide a mobile telephone number to Gardaí, and resides at the address given.
Last month, a woman (37) was charged with neglecting the same children on dates between 2006 and 2011, while a man was charged with six counts of sexually exploiting one of her children for the production of child pornography over a two-year period, and with sexually assaulting the same child and another female between 2006 and 2009.
For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.