A garda who unjustly imprisoned and sexually abused a woman at a Co Wicklow station was sentenced to six years in prison, reports RTE.
The Garda In September 2020, William Ryan, 41, was found guilty on three counts of sexual assault and one count of wrongfully imprisoning the lady at Aughrim Garda Station.
Despite his denial of the accusations, a jury found him guilty, reports RTE.
His attorney informed the court today that he has come to terms with his guilt on all counts.
Last September, he left the force.
After her car was confiscated while her son was driving it, the mother went to the garda station to speak with Ryan about how to get it back, reports RTE.
Ryan stated she would have to “repay the favour” after assisting with the car’s retrieval.
He kept her from leaving, shut the station entrance, and repeatedly sexually attacked her.
The deterrence concept, according to Judge Elma Sheahan, is crucial in sentencing because the public has to have faith and confidence in the gardaÃ, reports RTE.
The breakdown of trust between a garda and a member of the community he was meant to serve, not abuse, was one of the aggravating factors in the case, she said.
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According to her assessment, the offence was at the highest end of the spectrum, reports RTE.
The lady told the court in her victim impact statement that the judicial process had “degraded and broken” her.
When Ryan sexually abused her and when she was defending the case against him, she claimed that he had broken her twice.
She claimed that being in the witness box and that “private photos of me were handed around the courtroom, everyone had copies” made her feel more uneasy and terrified than she had ever felt, reports RTE.
She said the court that Ryan’s attempt to disparage her and provide his version of events had destroyed any progress she had made in counselling following the assault.
“I never thought this would happen to me in our little village and nor for one second by someone I knew and trusted and thought was a good person and of all places in a garda station,” she said, reports RTE.
She claimed that she kept asking herself why this had happened to her and that she always felt like she would fight if something similar occurred, but on that particular day, she froze.
She talked about the negative impact the attacks had on her relationships and life, how she felt judged and was unable to socialise or drop her kids off at school, reports RTE.
She said that by reading her victim impact statement today, she was “giving him his eviction notice” to Ryan, who had been residing in her thoughts for the previous four years.
She said that every gardaà she interacted with after reporting the incident had been quite nice to her, reports RTE.
The garda’s wife is standing by him and described him as a gentle, reliable, kind family man.
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