EXCLUSIVE

SECRET ABUSE 

Paedo ex politician served on panel to probe frontline cops while Garda officials unaware of abuse claims

• Published: 7:00, 27 Apr 2023

• C

A PAEDO former politician previously had the role of investigating frontline gardai.

The Irish Sun can exclusively reveal ex-Fianna Fail councillor John Hussey, of Fermoy in Cork, was one of the solicitors appointed by the Department of Justice to oversee ‘Sworn Inquiry Boards’.

On being appointed to the panel, the 57 year old was one of a number of lawyers selected by Garda management to represent them in investigations into officers accused of discipline breaches.

There is no suggestion that either the department or anyone involved in the panel, including garda management, were ever aware of either Hussey’s crime or any sex abuse complaint against him.

The monster — who received a five-year sentence on Tuesday for sexually assaulting Hannah Beresford, 28, when she was just eight — represented cops on the inquiries over a ten-year period.

The probes are established when a member of the force has been accused of a breach of discipline and involve barristers and solicitors with over ten years’ experience.

It is understood his last representation for the force was in 2017. He retired as a solicitor in 2019.

Although Hannah told her parents about his abuse in 2003, she did not make a garda statement against the sex beast until December 2020.

He was charged in May 2022 and pleaded guilty to the offence in January of this year.

One source told us: “He was put on a panel by Justice and then he was often selected to judge members of the gardai on discipline when, all along, he was a paedophile, which nobody knew.

“He thought he was untouchable.

“He had the ability to sack people and was always pontificating about standards and morals. He was a horrible individual.”

During Hussey’s appearance at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday, the hearing was told how he abused Hannah at a sleepover party at his home.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Beresford told Judge Catherine Staines she had never been treated with “unkindness or cruelty” until she went to that sleepover.

She said: “During the assault itself, my initial reaction was confusion, swiftly followed by fear.

“I did not understand what was happening, why my friend’s father was hurting me in the dark.

‘SCARY AND PAINFUL’

“I had never experienced a situation where the adult in charge of me did not have my best interests at heart.

“Some part of me hoped there was an explanation for what was happening, that perhaps this was part of some unusual bedtime routine, and I didn’t need to be afraid; but the larger part of me knew that what was happening to me was fundamentally wrong.

“I also knew that I could do little to stop it. I knew that I was experiencing something dark and scary and painful. I knew that I was not safe.

“As I got older, I started to better understand the nature of what happened to me.”

“I could not grasp that a grown up would hurt me for his own gratification. All fear has now vanished after confronting my abuser.”

Judge Staines described Hannah as a “very brave lady”.