Tullamore Circuit Court trial: Man found guilty of indecent assaults in early 1980s

Jury see girl's first Holy Communion missalette and told offending took place year before and after the ceremony

Published 6th May 2026, 16:30 BST Verdict returned at Tullamore Circuit Court Jury see girl's first Holy Communion missalette and told offending took place year before and after the ceremony Sign up to our Offaly Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Offaly Live within your account.

A MAN has been found guilty of the indecent assault of a girl more than 40 years ago.

A jury at Tullamore Circuit Court returned guilty verdicts in 13 of 25 sample charges which had been denied by the man, who is now aged 64.

He had pleaded not guilty to the indecent assault of the victim on various dates between 1982 and 1984 at a location in the Midlands.

The victim, now 50, was aged six when the offending began and Judge Ronan Munro was told by Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting that there was an age difference of at least 14 years between the accused and the girl.

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Mr Geraghty said the prosecution was anchoring the date of the commission of the offences either side of the victim's first Holy Communion and a copy of the girl's missalette from the ceremony was given to the jury.

The jury of eight men and four women heard the perpetrator's and victim's families were well known to each other and lived nearby.

The prosecution case was that the girl would visit the home of the accused and listen to music in an upstairs bedroom.

It was there the offending took place and in her evidence the victim described the assaults in detail, along with giving a description of the house and bedroom where they occurred.

The girl wrote a “love letter” to the accused but Mr Geraghty said she conceded in it, “What would a seven-year-old know about love?”

The victim also recalled being given a five-speed bicycle by the accused and said she struggled with it because it was a man's bike and was too big for her.

She lived in the same village as the accused and in 2019 spoke to him and asked him if he regretted anything in his life. He said there was nothing he regretted and spoke of his belief in karma.

In a conversation later the same year the woman again approached the man and he said “I do” when she asked him if he knew why she was there.

Her evidence was that she asked him if there was “anyone else” and he said there was not and added: “Can we keep this between you and I?”

Mr Geraghty told the jury this amounted to an admission by the accused of his offending.

In 2023 the victim told her brothers about what had been done to her when she was a child and a report was also made to the gardai.

The prosecution also referred to another “purported admission” where the accused man was approached by a brother of the victim about the matter and the offender said: “I know what you're talking about.”

During the trial, defence counsel Bernard Madden, SC, called a man as a witness and he gave evidence of hearing the woman speak in a public house in 2019 about the allegations.

That man's evidence was that the woman said she didn't know whether what she remembered “was a dream”.

Mr Madden told the jury that it was four years later when she went to the gardai and the defendant denied all the allegations and had done so when interviewed by the gardai.

He denied making any admissions as stated by the prosecution and Mr Madden said if the jury accepted that the evidence of the witness for the defence was true then that would undermine the prosecution case.

After less than three-and-a-half hours of deliberations the jury returned guilty verdicts on 13 of the 25 counts.

Mr Madden indicated that his client did not accept the verdict.

Judge Munro remanded the convicted man in custody to appear before the court again on Friday, May 8 by video link and indicated that a sentencing hearing will take place in June.

The judge said he did not wish to postpone finalisation of the matter for very long because the victim had already been waiting more than 40 years.

He added that acceptance of the verdict is one of the factors he will consider when sentencing.

Related topics: Offaly News Midlands Tullamore Circuit Court Sign up to our Offaly Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Offaly Live within your account.