Gardaí suspect that there could be more victims of convicted rapist Raymond Shorten.
The 50-year-old taxi driver who targeted vulnerable women on their way home at night was sentenced to a total of 17 years for raping two young women on separate nights in 2022.
Raymond Shorten from Melrose Crescent, Clondalkin in Dublin, was also sentenced earlier this week to 13 years in jail for raping a seven-year-old girl twice and sexually assaulting her ten years previously.
The Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said it was a reasonable proposition that Shorten has attacked and sexually assaulted other people.
Drew Harris appealed for anyone who may have been a victim, or anyone with any information in relation to any other suspected offences that Shorten may have committed, to come forward.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott ruled the sentences should run consecutively, meaning Shorten will be jailed for 30 years in total.
Mr Justice McDermott said the case involved violence against women in our society and the steps they are encouraged to or forced to take to minimise its risk.
He said women often become the subject of physical violence or are subjected to threats of violence when they go out to enjoy themselves.
He said they were given advice not to get a bus or walk home alone, although the judge said they should be able to do so.
The remaining option for them was to get a taxi and he said that reflected the level of trust society placed in the taxi service.
Judge McDermott said that was why this particular case resonated so much.
Shorten had denied all the allegations against him, but was found guilty by juries in separate trials earlier this year.
In 2012, Shorten raped a seven-year-old girl in her grandmother's house on the day of her mother’s funeral. He raped her on another occasion after that and also sexually assaulted her.
Judge Kerida Naidoo sentenced him to 13 years for those offences.
He said the fact Shorten had raped the young child on the day of her mother’s funeral showed he was utterly lacking in compassion and could not have cared less about the hurt, violation and long term pain and suffering he had inflicted on her.
Shorten was working as a taxi driver in 2022, when he raped two very young women on separate nights.
Both women were trying to get home and both were vulnerable because they had been drinking. The court heard he had preyed on their incapacity.
Shorten again denied the allegations and claimed the sexual activity had been consensual. The jury found him guilty by unanimous verdict.
In a victim impact statement, one of the young women said she had done what every girl was told was safe, by getting a taxi home, but it turned out to be "someone's worst nightmare" and she said she was constantly in fear that what happened to her that night would happen again.
The other young woman said it was shocking that it had happened in the first place and that a predator like Shorten did not just get her, but had raped another girl.
The court heard Shorten has seven children. He had been a factory worker and a milkman before becoming a taxi driver.
His defence counsel, Lorcan Staines, said the convictions had resulted in the loss of his marriage and his relationships with his elderly parents and children.
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Read more: Judge in Shorten case highlights threats faced by women
Mr Justice McDermott said Shorten's previous conviction for raping a child was a serious aggravating factor.
He said Shorten knew he had committed rape offences against a child when he went about identifying two further victims and repeating the offences without compunction and without hesitation.
The judge said he was taking into account the physical and mental damage the offending caused to the young women.
He said the rapes were "humiliating and demeaning" and Shorten took advantage of them being drunk. It was an absolute breach of trust and of his obligation to get the young women safely home.
He said both the women were very young. Shorten was 48 and effectively preyed on them, he said.
The judge said he knew exactly what he was doing and appeared to think he could do it with impunity.
He said Shorten had "no regret, no remorse and was completely unrepentant about the damage he inflicted on these two women".
Shorten's complete lack of remorse was a significant concern and the judge said Shorten remains a danger to others.
The judge said the question arose as to whether the sentences he imposed should be consecutive to each other and whether they should be consecutive to the 13-year sentence imposed earlier this week for the rape of a child.
Consecutive sentences should be imposed "sparingly", he said.
However he said there were multiple victims in this case and a choice was made by Shorten to go on and commit further offences, which had to be reflected in the sentences to be imposed.
He imposed a sentence of nine years in relation to the first young woman and eight years in relation to second young woman. Those sentences will be served consecutively to each other.
They will not begin until Shorten has finished serving the previous 13 year sentence, meaning he has an effective prison sentence of 30 years.
Additional reporting: Paul Reynolds
