Posted by predator freed |
‘Textbook groomer’ who sexually abused nieces walks out of jail after just two years
This week, Patrick Caffery left the Training Unit at Mountjoy to pick up the pieces of his life having completed his sentence
Eamon Dillon
Today at 19:06
A man who sexually assaulted four of his nieces in a high-profile criminal case has walked free from prison after just over two years behind bars.
Patrick Caffery, who abused his victims aged between 9 and 19 during visits to his Dublin home, was jailed for three years in November 2021.
This week he left the Training Unit at Mountjoy to pick up the pieces of his life having completed his sentence.
His sexual assaults over a 12-year period were described in court as “persistent, nasty and insidious” and he left it until the last minute to plead guilty.
Three sisters and an older cousin, who waived their right to anonymity, gave powerful victim impact statements in court to explain how his creepy attacks had left deep psychological scars.
Linda McDonagh, who had been the first and oldest of the victims, said when the abuse happened she did not know what to do.
She said she was frightened, disgusted, confused, and thought he had done it to humiliate her and it created a chain of events of negativity in her life.
She said the process of going through the criminal justice system after the abuse was first reported in 2016 had been so difficult it made her feel as if her life was on hold.
Her cousin Fiona Odumosu said in her statement that she stood before the court to speak her truth which had caused her “unbearable pain”.
She said the accused was an abuser who sought to prey on a young and naïve child and he was such a “textbook groomer” he had convinced her she was the only one he had done this with.
Ms Odumosu said she left Ireland for educational opportunities, but deep down she knew it was a way to get away from this “predator”.
Siobhan Odumosu said in her statement that she repressed the memories of being sexually abused until her younger sister disclosed her abuse around Christmas in 2016.
She said she started having flashbacks, her mind was instantly overcome and her world turned upside down.
She said she was overcome by emotion, crying for days and could not process the enormity of what she had been through.
Read more
Gangland killer Dessie Dundon’s girlfriend faces jail for handover of €50k cash
Man (25) jailed for raping fellow college student after giving her fake name
Ms Odumosu said what she struggled most with is guilt and she has “huge guilt” about her younger sister.
Grace Odumosu said the abuse happened for a long time and it developed. She said she was groomed and never got to have her first kiss, that it was taken from her.
She said when she was a child, Christmas was her favourite time of year but that Christmas was destroyed for her because of the abuse.
Ms Odumosu said when she reported the abuse in 2016 she thought she would feel free but it was extremely painful and not at all what she expected it to be.
She said this process should not have been as hard as it was and the five years before the trial could have been avoided with the truth from the beginning.
Caffrey pleaded guilty to a total of 22 counts of sexual assault committed against his four nieces on dates between December 1, 1991 and December 18, 2003.
Judge Pauline Codd said the offences were “opportunistic, but persistent” and lasted for a “considerable duration” and involved a “considerable breach of trust”.
She said each of the victims had shown “dignity and courage” by coming to court and giving accounts of the impact this has had on them.
She said that at the time of the offending, the maximum sentence for sexual assault was five years imprisonment.
She noted that despite his guilty pleas, Caffrey seemed to lack insight and sought to minimise his actions, meaning deterrence and rehabilitation must feature in this sentence.
Caffrey was sentenced to a total of four years with the final year suspended.
Who Watches the Watchers? 