Victim wanted paedophile named to protect others

A 70-year-old paedophile has been spared a prison sentence, after his victim said she wanted him identified rather than jailed so that other children can be protected from him.

Gerry Kelly, from Beech Lawn, Ballinasloe, received a three-year suspended prison sentence at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.

He has also been placed on the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely.

Kelly had denied six sample charges of indecently assaulting a then vulnerable teenage girl, in circumstances which included oral rape, on dates between January 7, 1985 and January 6, 1986, when the matter first came before the court for trial last February.

A jury was empanelled but shortly before the trial was due to start, Kelly pleaded guilty to one charge of indecently assaulting the girl on dates between November 7, 1985 and January 6, 1986.

Prosecuting barrister, Geri Silke withdrew the remaining five charges and said the matter could be dealt with on a full facts basis.

Sentence was adjourned to last Thursday for Kelly’s defence team to obtain a psychological report under the Free Legal Aid Scheme.

Detective Adrian Fehily, Ballinasloe Garda Station, told the sentence hearing other totally separate matters were being investigated when these offences came to light.

He said the abuse occurred when the vulnerable girl was allowed to attend nightclubs at a very young age.

Kelly was 37 and married when he met the girl in 1985, while working as a bouncer at the East County Hotel nightclub.

He had previously worked in maintenance at Portiuncula Hospital before becoming a woodwork instructor for FAS. He retired from that job in 2014.

Garda Fehily said Kelly befriended the girl, often driving her home when the nightclub finished.

The girl began to trust and confide in him, telling him all her troubles. He comforted her, gave her advice and even offered to bring her to see a psychiatrist.

Kelly began to drive her to isolated areas outside Ballinasloe where he would sexually abuse her.

“No threats or coercion were used and at the time, she believed it was a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.

“Looking back now, she sees it as something different and she wants him to acknowledge what he did was wrong,” Garda Fehily said.

He said Kelly’s guilty plea had been important to the complainant, who did not wish to be in court, and she hoped the sentence hearing would now bring some closure and she could get on with her life.

“She had a fear of the court process and feared having to appear in court.

“Her motivation was never for him to get a custodial sentence.  Her motivation has always been to protect other children from him and that he understand the seriousness of what he did.

“Things are improving for her now with the help of her family and closure will come today, hopefully,” Garda Fehily said.

He said Kelly was now aged 70 and had no previous convictions.

Paul Flannery SC, defending, said Kelly was “a valued member of society all through his life” and he had thought the girl was older at the time.

He said it was very fair of the complainant to indicate she had no interest in seeing Kelly go to prison.

A letter of apology from Kelly to the complainant was read into evidence.

Kelly wrote he wanted to apologise for the hurt he caused her, adding he hoped his guilty plea spared her more upset and anguish.

“For whatever it’s worth, I would like you to know I’m truly sorry,” his letter read.

Ms Silke confirmed the woman wanted Kelly identified so long as she was not identified.

Judge Rory McCabe said the abuse had a significant impact on the complainant, being exploited when she was a troubled and vulnerable child.

“He used her for his own sexual gratification.  That she trusted and confided in him makes this even more serious.  Her attitude, as evidenced in her victim impact statement, is notable.

“She acts with dignity and charity, in stark contrast to Kelly’s callous and deceitful behaviour towards her,” the judge said.

He placed the offences in the mid-range on the scale of gravity, stating that the headline sentence was five years.

The judge said he had to take mitigating factors into account before deciding on the appropriate sentence and those were: Kelly’s plea of guilty, albeit it only came after a jury had been picked and ready to go to trial, and that, he said, highlighted the charitable approach of the complainant while, in contract, casting a shadow on Kelly’s attitude.

“He says he’s sorry in the letter and he co-operated with the investigation but in so far as that goes, he didn’t admit his guilt until the very last minute,” the judge observed.

He said that in cases such as this an immediate custodial sentence would be warranted and inevitable but given the complainant’s Christian attitude, he had reluctantly been persuaded to impose a three-year suspended sentence instead.

“He is a sex offender and is now on the Sex Offender’s Register and that in itself is punishment,” the judge observed, before binding Kelly to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the next three years.