A daughter who was repeatedly molested by her father nearly 40 years ago waived her right to anonymity when the parents’ case came before Wexford Circuit Court.
Thomas Mahon, now 71, pleaded guilty in response to five counts of indecently assaulting Josephine, now Josephine Furlong, when she was a teenager, reports Independent.
He was in his 30s when he held his eldest daughter on his lap as she watched television at the family home in Clashgainnie, Castlebridge.
She eventually made a complaint to the Gardai about the abuse in 2018 and the matter was escalated before Judge Cormac Quinn.
Hailing from a family of six brothers, she was present at the hearing along with two sisters while her father sat in the dock.
The complainant calculated that the attacks began when she was 14 and continued until she was 17.
She remembered that he had reached under her clothes and was caressing her nipples, skin on skin.
He told her that her mother’s nipples were inverted, adding that it was a condition that could render a woman unable to breastfeed a child.
He suggested, she said in her complaint statement, that caressing was there to prevent this from happening.
The abuse took place on one occasion in the presence of a friend of the injured party and on another occasion, when she was in bed.
However, most of the molestation and assault took place while the father and daughter were watching television.
As a teenager, she relied on her father, a man who drank most of his time.
She finally called him in 2018 and told him she wanted to report what happened.
Her mother soon contacted her, but the two women have not spoken since then.
In a Victim Impact Statement read out to the court, Ms Furlong – who is now a grandmother – said she still feels the effects of what happened every day.
She said the sexual abuse affected her relationship with her husband and made it difficult for her to hug her children and tell them she loved them.
She constantly feels guilty and ashamed that she let him mistreat her.
Prosecutor Daniel Boland confirmed Ms Furlong now wanted everything out in the open and no restrictions on the press.
In a letter read to his daughter by his attorney, John Peart, Mahone apologized: “I destroyed your life and family,” wrote the defendant. “I have done so much harm. Sorry is not enough,” reports Independent.
Mr. Peart tried to avoid custody of his client by stating that he had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The court was told that the accused is the primary caregiver of his 75-year-old wife, who needs round-the-clock care.
However, he admitted that he committed the crime and accepted full responsibility.
Judge Quinn took note of all this but felt that he should put Thomas Mahone in jail.
The attacks in the period between April 1983 and August 1985 further eroded trust.
The defendant is to be sentenced to two years in prison with the last 12 months suspended, reports Independent.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.