andrew@limerickpost.ie
THE DAUGHTER of man jailed for sexually abusing her has said that he destroyed her life and stole her innocence during the three years he made her perform sexual acts on him.
In a victim impact statement before the Central Criminal Court, Siobhan Healy said that her “father should have loved and cared for her but instead, he chose to steal my innocence from me”.
Pat Healy (66) of Norwood Park, Garryowen pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to indecently assaulting his daughter at their family home between 1981 and 1984.
After he was jailed for seven years by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy on Monday, Siobhan Healy said she wished to waive her right to anonymity so her father could be named.
Referring to the victim impact statement, Mr Justice McCarthy said that it was one of the most harrowing he had heard in court.
Ms Healy said the abuse took her away from her family some of whom she hasn’t seen in more than 30 years.
The mother of seven said the “abuse visited upon me by my father has destroyed my life – he stole it for ever and it can’t ever be replaced – my childhood, my school days, my teenage years, my dignity, my trust, my relationships. The depression I suffered and still suffer from the abuse.
“I’ll cry from the pain and the hurt that he caused. I hope and pray to God that no child will ever be abused by him again.”
The court had been told that Ms Healy and her brother remained in their father’s care after their parents separated when she was two years old.
She recalled being abused when she was 12-years-old. The abuse which occurred on a regular basis involved her father making her touch his penis and him touching her before later moving on to forcing her to perform oral sex on him.
Incidents also occurred when he collected her from a relative’s house and abuse her in the car on the way home.
The abuse ended when she left home at 16 and was taken into care.
Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC said that Pat Healy was disgusted by his actions and would turn back time if he could. He had lost his standing in the community and now found himself living in almost complete isolation. His health was deteriorating and he had previously suffered a heart attack and stroke.
Imposing a seven year jail term, Mr Justice McCarthy said the offence fell into a high category in terms of seriousness and breach of trust.
