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Kerry man, 82, jailed for 15 years for rape of daughter

Eighty-two-year-old Edward Molyneaux has been jailed for 15 years for the rape and sexual assault of his daughter (Photo via Kerry's Eye)
Eighty-two-year-old Edward Molyneaux has been jailed for 15 years for the rape and sexual assault of his daughter (Photo via Kerry's Eye)

An 82-year-old man who raped his daughter almost weekly for eight years from when she was a teenager has been jailed for 15 years.

The man was convicted by a jury a fortnight ago of more than 60 counts of rape and sexual assault.

He can now be named as Edward Molyneaux, of Kilshenane, Listowel, Co Kerry, after his daughter, Marie Murphy, waived her right to anonymity.

Ms Murphy said in her victim impact statement that the sexual abuse began when she was aged four.

Sentencing him this afternoon at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford said she agreed with the Director of Public Prosecutions that the offending perpetrated by Molyneaux on his daughter was in the exceptional category, at the highest point of the scale.

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She noted that there was no admission of guilt, no expression of remorse and - it seemed to her - there was unlikely to be any rehabilitation.

The sentence came a week after Ms Murphy faced her father in the courtroom and told him she had allowed him to live his life, but it was now time to set herself free and there would be no more secrets.

She was delivering a statement on the impact the abuse he inflicted on her had on her life.

She told him, while he made her out to be a failure from the start, she had actually succeeded in life and now all of the shame and all of the blame belonged to him.

Marie Murphy, pictured alongside her husband and daughter outside court

In addition to the rape and sexual abuse, Molyneaux was also convicted of beating her with a leather strap and of breaking a chair over her head. He could turn violent at the drop of a hat, she said, causing "wreckage" in her life and within their home.

The year-long investigation into Molyneaux was led by Detective Sergeant Trevor Ryan of the Garda Protective Services Unit in Kerry.

Molyneaux pleaded not guilty at his trial, even though he admitted in interviews with Detective Sergeant Ryan that he had raped his daughter almost weekly for eight years from when she was 14 or 15.

After a trial that lasted just under two weeks, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts against him on all counts on which they deliberated - more than 60 in total.

The Director of Public Prosecutions said the case merited a sentence of between 15 years and life imprisonment.

Ms Justice Lankford said Molyneaux had relentlessly conducted a campaign of sexual abuse of his daughter. She had left the family home after completing her Leaving Certificate, but the abuse continued when she returned home periodically.

Ms Justice Lankford noted how Ms Murphy described her father as having robbed her of her childhood and how she had been let down by many agencies.

She said she had spoken powerfully, clearly and directly to her abuser in her victim impact statement.

She noted how she had been sustained over recent years by the love of her own family and her husband, Noel.

She said the multiplicity of offending, the period of time over which it took place, Ms Murphy's age, the abuse of trust and the level of degradation, added to the fact that the abuse had taken place in a variety of locations, including outdoors, in fields and in ditches, had meant the offending was at the highest point in the scale.

She accepted that Molyneaux's age, medical condition and lack of familiarity with prison would make his sentence more difficult for him than it might be for others.

Molyneaux was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

In her victim impact statement, delivered last week, Ms Murphy urged other victims of abuse to be brave, reach out, speak the truth and they would be believed.

"Just take that one step to freedom and recovery," she said.

This afternoon, prosecuting senior counsel Ray Boland, told Ms Justice Lankford that Ms Murphy was waiving her right to anonymity so that her father could be named in media reporting of the case.

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