A garda who sexually assaulted and falsely imprisoned a woman at a station in Co Wicklow has been jailed for six years.
Garda William Ryan, 41, was last year convicted on three charges of sexual assault and one of falsely imprisoning the woman at Aughrim Garda Station in September 2020.
He had denied the charges but was convicted by a jury.
His barrister told the court he now fully accepted his guilt on all charges.
He resigned from the force last September.
The woman had gone to the garda station to see Ryan for advice about how to get her car back after it was seized while her son was driving it.
Ryan helped with the process of retrieving the car but then said she would have to "repay the favour".
The door to the station was locked, he prevented her from leaving and sexually assaulted her a number of times.
Judge Elma Sheahan said the principle of deterrence was important in sentencing as member of the public must have trust and confidence in gardaí.
She said an aggravating factor in the case was the breach of trust involving a garda and a member of the community he was there to serve and not abuse.
She assessed the offending at being at the upper end of the scale.
Woman 'degraded and broken' by trial process
In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court that she had been "degraded and broken" by the trial process.
She said Ryan had broken her twice - first when he sexually assaulted her and again while defending the case against him.
She said she had never felt more uncomfortable or afraid as she was in the witness box and "private photos of me were handed around the courtroom, everyone had copies".
She told the court that any progress she made in counselling after the assault had been unraveled by the trial process as Ryan had sought to degrade her and put forward his version of events.
The woman said what happened to her had taken all the happiness out of her and she felt anxious, powerless and vulnerable.
She said she was exhausted trying to put a brave face on for her friends and family while she had fallen apart.
"I never thought this would happen to me in our little village and nor for one second by someone I knew and trusted and thought was a good person and of all places in a garda station," she said.
She said she constantly asked why had this happened to her and felt that she was always a person who would fight if something like that happened but on the day she froze.
She described the detrimental effect the assaults had on her life and relationships and said she felt judged and could not longer drop her children to school or socialise.
She said Ryan had been living in her head for the past four years and by reading her victim impact statement she was "giving him his eviction notice".
She also said she had been treated with great kindness by all the gardaí she dealt with after reporting the assault.
She said she felt they genuinely believed her and she could not have proceeded with the case if they had not.
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Ryan accepts guilt unequivocally - defence counsel
Defence counsel Breffni Gordon told the court his client had led an exemplary life until his conviction and had resigned from the force last September after 19 years.
Despite denying the charges, he told the court Ryan now accepted unequivocally his guilt on all of the charges.
Ryan's wife Anna took the witness stand and asked to read from a statement.
She began reading the statement in which she acknowledged it was a difficult day for the woman her husband assaulted and said she empathised with her.
She went on to describe her husband as someone she had only ever known to be "a kind, calm, caring, unassuming, gentle, reliable, selfless family man who means so much to so many people".
Judge Sheahen then interrupted to say the reading of a statement was "unusual" and requested the witness to answer questions from the defence counsel instead.
Ms Ryan went on to confirm that her husband’s absence from their home since he was remanded in custody had affected her and her four children emotionally and financially and said she had supported him through the trial and would continue to support him.
Mr Gordon also said he was handing in a large booklet of 35 references or testimonials on behalf of his client including from a Superintendent Paul Hogan who served in the same district at the time.
He said it was a reflection of his client how many people had written kind things about him.
The court was told that this case preceded new legislation which now requires those giving references for convicted people to come to court to give evidence.
He asked the judge to treat his client as "a citizen" with a previous good record and consider suspending a portion of the sentence so he could begin to rebuild his life.
Woman shocked, horrified, scared, trial told
In her evidence to trial earlier this year, the woman in this case described being shocked, horrified and scared during the incident.
She said Ryan had told her to "wear something tight" when he invited her to the station to help her with the process of retrieving the car, but after doing so he then commented on her body and had grabbed and slapped her backside as she stood to leave.
She said he then told her he had done her a favour and it was her time to repay him.
In the witness box, she broke down in tears as she said it was the worst feeling she had ever had in her life.
She said she did not know what was coming next and she went numb and froze.
She said she felt she could not leave as he was standing in her way and decided to show him a photograph of herself in a bikini to satisfy him so she could get away but said after this she was sexually assaulted twice more after he had ushered her upstairs to the bathroom of the station.
Later that night, she said she told her husband that Ryan was a guard and "they can basically do what they want".
Ryan took to the witness stand to give his account of what happened in Aughrim Garda Station on 29 September 2020.
He claimed the woman in the case showed him pictures on her phone that he considered "quite raunchy" and made suggestive comments to him.
Ryan claimed the woman was "very much" behaving in a sexually charged manner and they went upstairs where they had a consensual sexual encounter.
The jury did not believe his account and found him guilty.
