Perv plea | 

Paedophile ex-councillor pleads for vigilantes to stop attacks on Longford home

Following his release, the convicted paedophile moved back to the Longford home occupied by his innocent wife and daughter — a property vigilantes attacked, smashing in the upstairs and downstairs front windows.

Yesterday at 11:00

A former Sinn Fein councillor and GAA caretaker convicted of the horrific sexual abuse of four children has pleaded with vigilantes who targeted his home to call off their attacks, saying: “My family don’t deserve this.”

Sixty-eight-year-old Jimmy McDonnell — who videotaped the abuse of one of his victims — was released from prison in late November after serving five years behind bars for sexual assault, sexual exploitation and the production, possession and distribution of child pornography.

Following his release, the convicted paedophile moved back to the Longford home occupied by his innocent wife and daughter — a property vigilantes attacked last week, smashing in the upstairs and downstairs front windows.

“There have been no problems at all with the rest of the town,” McDonnell told the Sunday World when we called to the property on Wednesday.

“I go about my business and I’m not interfering with anybody.”

McDonnell’s daughter said the attack on the house had a terrible impact on her and her mother.

“He’s talking,” she said. “But I haven’t been to prison and this impacts my life and this impacts my mother’s life.

“What did either of us ever do wrong?

“We’re being victimised too and what did I do — except that he’s my father.

“And we’ve been living here since before he got taken in by the guards.

“I don’t understand why people have to go to these lengths.”

McDonnell said his wife is suffering because of the attacks on the family home.

“She’s suffering greatly over this. She’s committed no crime and my daughter has committed no crime,” he said.

“I’m not looking for any sympathy for myself.

“I understand my victims have a life sentence. I know my sentence, as such, is over, but they’re carrying a life sentence.

“They’ll never get over what I did to them. And I’m sorry for that — but my family didn’t do anything.”

McDonnell was jailed for 12 years, with four suspended, in 2018 after he pleaded guilty to 45 sample charges out of over 140 offences committed between 2000 and 2008.

These included counts of sexually assaulting the children; production, possession and distribution of child pornography; and the sexual exploitation of minors on various dates between 2000 and 2008

The abuse began when he struck up friendships with four children — one was as young as four — when the abuse began.

A seven-year-old boy was abused for eight years, sometimes on a daily basis, and with Mr McDonnell videotaping what was happening.

When gardaí searched McDonnell’s house they found child pornography on his computer.

This included 128 movie files, seven of which were in the most serious category, according to a detective in the Garda Cyber Crime Unit.

A handwritten apology to his victims was handed into court in behalf of Mr McDonnell, in which he says he was deeply sorry for the mental anguish and deep psychological damage the abuse had caused.

“It is a terrible cross I have given you all to deal with throughout your lives,” McDonnell wrote. “I am very sorry.”

Sentencing him at Longford Circuit Court, Judge Keenan Johnson said these were extremely serious offences which occurred over a protracted period of time and involved predatory behaviour, manipulation, grooming and premeditation on the part of the accused.

The judge said McDonnell had engaged in “deviant premeditated behaviour” and had groomed the children to abuse them.

“The accused still doesn’t have any empathy for his victims but each of them deserve enormous credit for going to the gardai,” the judge added.

“Mr McDonnell led them to believe that he was someone they could trust; he groomed them and breached that trust.

“The abuse took place over a period of eight or nine years and there was habitual and predatory abuse on one child in particular.”

In a victim impact statement, one of those abused said McDonnell had taken away their childhood, but some satisfaction had been gained from knowing that he would pay for what he did.

“The doctor also stated in his report that the child was tortured by what had happened,” the judge continued.

“The effect of the abuse on all the victims has been profound and life changing.”

Noting that McDonnell had been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register, the judge said “it would appear from the probation report that the accused still doesn’t have any empathy for his victims and the only decent thing that he has done is to plead guilty and co-operate with the gardaí in the investigation of the offences.”

“Clearly each of the victims are inherently talented, gifted people who because of the abuse perpetrated on them by the accused have not to date been able to realise their full potential,” the judge added.

“I sincerely hope that after today they can tap into their potential and live the complete and fulfilled lives that each so richly deserve.”

McDonnell was ordered to enter into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of five years after his release.

He was also ordered to submit himself for supervision by the probation service for a period of two years following release.

The judge also told McDonnell that while in prison he was to engage with prison-based psychologist services prior to his release.