Latest news with #oralrape
BreakingNews.ie
18-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (48) given four-year sentence for sexually abusing cousin
A man who sexually abused his three-year-old cousin has been jailed for four years. Darren Dowling (48) of Palace Flats, Palace Close, St Saviour, Jersey, UK, was found guilty of eight counts of oral rape and three counts of indecent assault that took place at a Clondalkin address between 1990 and 1993 against his cousin Alan Murphy following a Central Criminal Court trial in July 2024. Advertisement Mr Murphy has waived his anonymity to have Dowling named. He has three previous convictions, all from Jersey in the UK. The court heard that one of the convictions involved him engaging in messages with an undercover police officer in which he sent a picture of himself holding a 10-month-old child on his knee and referring to how excited he was and that there was a bulge in his pants. He was sentenced to 9 months for this offence. At a previous hearing, Justice Paul Burns said the crimes had an adverse effect on Mr Murphy, leading to him having behavioural problems and abusing alcohol and drugs as a teenager to block out the memory of the abuse. Advertisement The birth of his own children helped him to come to terms with his addictions. 'He is rightly proud of himself for seeing it (the trial process) through, and the court hopes that with further intervention and support from his loving family, he will continue to recover,' Mr Justice Burns said. He set a headline sentence of 13 years for the oral rapes and eight years for the sexual assault, given that the victim was a very young boy at the time of the offending, and his cousin had been placed in a position of trust. He also acknowledged that the abuse had happened in the victim's home, a place which 'ought to have been a place of safety', Mr Justice Burns said. Advertisement He reduced the headline sentences to six and a half years and four years respectively, given that Dowling was a juvenile at the time of the offending. Mr Justice Burns then imposed concurrent sentences of five years and three years before he suspended the final 12 months of the five-year term on strict conditions, including that Dowling engage with the Probation Supervision upon his release. The case was adjourned for mention to allow for the hearing of a case in the Supreme Court in relation to the naming of juvenile accused persons when they reach adulthood, and therefore could not be reported until now. At the previous hearing, Detective Garda Sharon Duncan told Grainne O'Neill, BL, prosecuting, that on July 12th of this year, a jury found Dowling guilty of 11 counts. The court heard that Dowling was Mr Murphy's older cousin and would babysit him and his brother. Advertisement The court heard that while Dowling was babysitting, he would bring Mr Murphy upstairs to the bathroom and place his penis into Mr Murphy's mouth and move his head back and forward. Mr Murphy stated in his evidence that the door would be closed and the offending would last between 10 and 15 minutes. Mr Murphy's brother was outside the bathroom or on the stairs while this was happening. Time of offending The court heard that the abuse would take place 'on each and every occasion' that Dowling would babysit. Mr Murphy described how he would scream and hold onto his mother's leg when she was going out. Mr Murphy was aged between three and six at the time of the offending, and Dowling was aged between 13 and 16. Advertisement Mr Murphy's mother gave evidence during the trial, in which she said that Dowling had begun babysitting her sons around the time of Italia 1990. She said that her son disclosed the abuse to her when he was 15 years old. Mr Murphy's brother gave evidence that Dowling would bring his brother to the bathroom. He said the door was closed and possibly locked, as he had tried to enter the bathroom once but could not. He said that when his brother came out of the bathroom, he would be upset and crying. The Director of Public Prosecutions placed the offences in the 10-15 year band. The court was told that the maximum sentence available for section 4 rape is life in prison and 10 years for each of the indecent assault counts. Detective Garda Duncan read Mr Murphy's victim impact statement to the court, which said: 'I never understood the effect the abuse had on me until I gave up drinking and drugs. I was always acting up and misbehaving. I turned to drink and drugs as an early teen to block out the abuse. No one knew why I was so moody.' He said I was so embarrassed and ashamed of people finding out. 'I was just a little boy; why would he do that to me? It makes me feel sick. I want my boys to know never to be afraid to tell the truth.' He concluded by saying: 'I am so grateful for the results of the trial.' Det Gda Duncan agreed with Hugh Hartnett, SC, defending, that his client met with gardaí in Jersey on a voluntary basis and did not contest this extradition from Jersey. Mr Hartnett said his client was a child at the time of the offending. He said it is 34 years since these offences took place, and his client had set up a life for himself in Jersey. Counsel said Dowling was first told that no prosecution would take place, and then that decision was reversed. He said that there was one 'blemish' on his client's record for which he received a nine-month sentence. Ireland Man (20s) appears in court charged with trying to... Read More Mr Hartnett handed letters of testimonial into the court, which described Dowling as a helpful and kind person to his friends. He asked the court to take into account the very serious factors that distinguished this case from others; he outlined that his client was a child at the time of the offending. He said there was no use of violence except for the act itself, and no threat was made. 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 or visit Rape Crisis Help.
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- Irish Times
Man serving 10-year sentence for raping student removed from teachers' register
A secondary schoolteacher serving a 10-year sentence for the oral rape of one of his students has been removed from the teachers' register. The decision was made on Monday at a Teaching Council fitness-to-teach inquiry, where the Disciplinary Committee Inquiry Panel also ruled that Patrick Joseph Bardon could not apply to be readmitted to the register for 20 years. Bardon is serving a 10-year sentence in the Midlands Prison for the oral rape of one of his then student, a male, between October 1992 and March 1994. Bardon was convicted of 11 charges of orally raping the then teenager on dates between October 1992 and March 1994 and was sentenced in October 2023 by Mr Justice David Keane. READ MORE The panel found that Bardon's rape convictions are 'fundamentally incompatible' with the teaching profession and its core values and that his conviction affected his fitness to teach. It also said his offences constituted 'an egregious breach of trust'. The panel noted that Bardon had engaged in grooming behaviour of his male victim over 20 months. Joanne Williams, barrister for the council, outlined some of the evidence from Bardon's criminal trial, including that the victim would regularly go to his house after school, where they would watch pornography together. The inquiry also heard that the victim corrected exam papers for Bardon for which the teacher gave him money. In its ruling, the panel said there was a risk of lifelong implications for the victim as a result of Bardon's behaviour. The offences took place at Bardon's home between October 1992 and March 1994, starting when he was 23 and his victim was 15. Bardon is serving his sentence in the Midlands Prison. In imposing the 20-year prohibition on teaching, the panel said this was necessary to protect the public. It also noted Bardon's probation report, which said that there was a moderate chance of reoffending. Mitigating factors that the panel took into account included that Bardon's short teaching career was blemish-free until the point the offences occurred and that he was in his early 20s at the time.
BreakingNews.ie
16-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Former teacher who orally raped student struck off for minimum of 20 years by Teaching Council
A former secondary school teacher who was convicted of the oral rape of one of his students over 30 years ago has been struck off from the register of teachers. An inquiry panel of the Teaching Council directed that the teacher, Patrick Joseph Bardon, be removed from the register and barred from re-applying to be eligible to teach for 20 years after it concluded his offending was 'fundamentally incompatible' with the teaching profession. Advertisement Bardon was given a 10-year prison sentence with the final two years suspended in October 2023 after being convicted following a six-day trial of 11 charges of oral rape of one of his male students on dates between October 1992 and March 1994. The identity of the student and the name of the school where Bardon was teaching cannot be published on direction of the inquiry panel. The former teacher of English, who is currently serving his prison sentence at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, did not attend the inquiry and was not legally represented. Announcing the inquiry's findings on Monday, the panel's chairperson, Adrian Guinan, said Bardon's offending was 'at the very highest end of the spectrum of wrongdoing' and represented 'an egregious breach of trust". Advertisement Mr Guinan said the former teacher had demonstrated a pattern of grooming over a 20-month period which involved getting his victim to watch pornography. He said the teacher should have been aware of the vulnerability of his victim and how his conduct could inflict lifelong injuries. The chairperson said the sanction was imposed in order to protect the public and specifically children as well as the reputation of the teaching profession and the integrity of the regulatory process. He also noted that Bardon had been assessed as being at a moderate risk of reoffending. Advertisement Mr Guinan said the panel had taken into consideration that Bardon previously had a blemish-free record and was relatively young when the offences took place, while he was also caring for his father at the time. He also acknowledged the teacher had demonstrated insight and noted the Teaching Council's sanction was not designed to further punish the teacher who had already received a custodial sentence and had lost his job. The inquiry heard Bardon had written to the Teaching Council in which he stated he fully accepted that the regulatory body would remove his name from the register and prevent him from teaching. Bardon, who is now in his mid-50s, said he would not contest the allegation that his criminal conviction for the offence of rape affected his fitness to teach. Advertisement The teacher told the Teaching Council that he did not believe any more time or money should be spent on the matter and urged it to reach its conclusions as quickly as possible. He also asked that publicity about the case could be avoided. Bardon acknowledged that the inquiry into his fitness to teach was 'an open and shut case". He also accepted that he must live with the consequences of his actions for the remainder of his life and asked the Teaching Council to take his punishment of a prison sentence into consideration. Advertisement In an earlier submission, counsel for the Teaching Council, Joanne Williams BL, had urged the inquiry panel to send out a message about the unacceptability of the teacher's conduct. Ms Williams said it had been 'utterly reprehensible' and 'incompatible with the teaching profession". She outlined how the offending had taken place in the teacher's house when one of his male students was helping him to correct mock papers. She said the offending began when the student was aged 15 and the accused was aged 23. Ms Williams said aggravating factors were the student-teacher relationship and the significant breach of trust. She said the student had provided a victim impact statement to the court in which he outlined how the offences had profoundly affected his life. She said the victim had contemplated suicide while what happened had also affected his relationship with his parents. He also suffered sleep disturbance, flashbacks and nightmares. The inquiry heard that Bardon, who had no previous convictions, had subsequently apologised unreservedly to his victim and expressed disappointment with himself at the sentencing hearing in the case. Ms Williams said the judge accepted the teacher's remorse was genuine. 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 or visit Rape Crisis Help .
