Man who repeatedly raped his sister is appealing ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​conviction

John Paul Hegarty of Castleview, Little Island, Co Cork. Picture by Cork Courts Limited

March 13 2022 02:30 AM

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A man who repeatedly raped his sister when she was between the ages of nine and 12 is appealing his criminal conviction.

In January, John Paul Hegarty, (41), of Castleview, Little Island, Co Cork, was jailed for repeatedly raping his youngest sister during the formative years of her life at their family home in Glanmire in Co Cork. He was imprisoned for seven years. 

The Sunday Independent has established that Hegarty is now appealing his conviction. This attempt will now “cause additional pain”, according to a source familiar with the case.

In the aftermath of his conviction his sister Nora Hegarty, (35), waived her own right to anonymity to signal to other victims of sexual abuse that they need not “suffer in silence” and in order that her brother could be identified.

In an interview with the Sunday Independent in January, Ms Hegarty said it was important for her to do so to send a message to other victims of sexual abuse that they should feel no shame over abuse they have suffered.

“This is one of the reasons why I waived my anonymity, I wanted to show others who have lived through the experiences that I have lived that they can get justice. They have nothing to be ashamed of, they should hold their heads up, they don’t need to suffer in silence. There are people who will support them all the way through.

“For me my investigating garda, everyone at the Protective Service Unit in Cork city, were there for me throughout this process,” she explained.

Mr Hegarty was convicted by a jury last October at a Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork of 19 counts of rape as well as other offences. He was aged between 15 and 18 when he perpetrated the abuse.

Nora Hegarty said that whatever the number of rape charges on the indictment, she was raped by John Paul on an almost daily basis for three years.

Following his imprisonment, she said she hoped she could finally look towards a future that is not consumed by memories of the abuse she suffered.