Man who sexually abused girlfriend's sisters jailed for eight years
Isabel Hayes
A Louth man who groomed and sexually abused two younger sisters of his girlfriend about 40 years ago has been jailed for eight and a half years.
Ian Healy (68) of Ballymakenny Road, Drogheda, Co Louth, pleaded guilty at the start of his Central Criminal Court trial last April to 13 sample counts involving indecent assault, attempted rape and rape of the first complainant, Susan Mallon, on dates between 1978 and 1982.
He was 22 when the abuse started, and she was aged between nine and 12 years old.
Healy further pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault of Ms Mallon's younger sister, Jenny Sullivan, when she was aged between six and eight years old on a date between 1981 and 1983.
Both Ms Mallon and Ms Sullivan waived their right to anonymity so Healy could be named.
The abuse of Ms Mallon started when Healy, who was in a relationship with the girls' older sister, moved into the family home and started grooming the child by showing her pornographic magazines, the court heard.
The court heard the family of 11 children was vulnerable, with both parents absent and their older sister thrust into the role of primary caregiver while also working full-time.
The abuse of Ms Mallon started with inappropriate touching and progressed to attempted rape and then rape. The abuse occurred in the family home, apart from one incident which occurred when Healy took her for a drive.
The abuse came to an end when Healy came into Ms Mallon's bedroom when she was 12 and tried to orally rape her. She said no and told him she would tell her sister.
He slapped her across the face and left the room, the court heard. That was the first time she had stood up to him, and as a result, the abuse stopped, a local detective told Carl Hanahoe SC, prosecuting.
In relation to Ms Sullivan, the court heard the man forced her to masturbate him on one occasion when she was aged between six and eight. He told her not to tell anybody what had happened.
The court heard she made a complaint to gardaí in 2006, but it was not pursued. The matter again came to light when Ms Mallon also came forward to gardaí in 2017.
When questioned, Healy said he did not know why the women would come up with the allegations. He has two historic previous convictions for larceny and assault.
In her victim impact statement, which was read out by another sister, Ms Mallon said she suffered repeated, deliberate and premeditated sexual assault at the hands of Healy. She said the fact he waited until the last minute to plead guilty led to seven more years of anxiety and suffering for both her and her sister.
She said the abuse destroyed her self-confidence and that she was filled with shame and anger. She said she is in a constant state of high alert and struggles emotionally.
“I built up walls to protect myself, but these same walls have isolated me,” she said.
“When you rape a child, you destroy a whole life,” Ms Mallon said. “You destroy innocence that is gone forever. The abuse has shaped the way you see the world, the way you live, the way you parent.”
In her victim impact statement, which she read out herself, Ms Sullivan said she had waited “a long time” for this day. “I don't know who I would have been if this didn't happen,” she said, adding she has been given a life sentence.
She said she couldn't go to her grave knowing she didn't get justice. “I don't fear him,” she said. “I pity him.”
Sentencing on Monday, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said the complainants in the case should not ask themselves why they didn't stop the abuse sooner, but why Healy didn't stop it sooner, or not start in the first place.
She said he inserted himself into a family which he knew to be vulnerable and started grooming both girls when they were children. When “assured of her silence”, his abuse of Ms Mallon became more and more serious.
When assessed by the Probation Service, Healy could not give an explanation as to why he abused the sisters, and he minimised his offending, the judge noted. “As with many abusers, he abused because he could.”
She said in the intervening years since the abuse, Healy lived “a quiet, law-abiding life” apparently untroubled by his prior behaviour, the judge said. She said the damage he inflicted on his two young victims has now come back to cause damage to his own wife and family.
She handed down a sentence of 10 years and suspended the final year and a half on a number of conditions, including that Healy remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for a period of 18 months.
Defence counsel, Timothy O'Leary SC, said Healy wanted to give an unreserved apology to both of the complainants.
He said his client is somebody who has never been in custody before. He has a good work history - worked in the family business from a young age and then for his own business. He has some health issues, defence counsel said.
He is somebody who has lived “a good life” since these offences occurred and has never come to garda attention since, Mr O'Leary submitted. He said he is a good father and husband to his wife.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
