'Monster' sex abuser jailed for 20 years

Eimear Dodd and Fiona Ferguson

A “monster” whose sexual abuse of four victims spanned three decades has been jailed for 20 years.

Declan Daly (54) of Cassidy Apartments, Kells, Co. Meath pleaded guilty before his trial to 12 counts of sexual assault and indecent assault against three female victims on dates between 1982 and 2002. He was convicted at trial of three counts of raping a further victim in 2022.

Carl Hanahoe SC, prosecuting, told the court that the women wished to retain their anonymity, but have no difficulty with Daly being identified in reporting of the case.

The court heard the later rapes occurred after the victim told him that she had been sexually abused by another man. The totality of the offending against all the women came to light when this last victim disclosed the abuse she suffered at the hands of both men.

The second abuser of this victim, who can not be named for legal reasons, has already been dealt with by the courts and jailed for 13 years.

This woman bravely urged others not to be afraid to come forward and tell someone what was happening to them, in her victim impact statement to the court.

Mr Justice Patrick McGrath said it did no justice to the horror perpetrated by Daly on the women to say the victim impact statements were harrowing. He said he hoped the victims would be able to move on with their lives and lay the blame on Daly, who is solely responsible for the offending.

He said Daly had taken advantage of the final victim, who suffered the most serious abuse, in a “most sinister and savage way” and was aware she had been exposed to similar offending at the hands of another abuser.

He said the offending against this victim was in the highest category, meriting 15 years to life imprisonment.

Mr Justice McGrath imposed consecutive sentences totalling 22 years imprisonment and suspended the final two years of the sentence for five years.

The four women each read their victim impact statement to the court during an earlier sentence hearing. They described the long-lasting effects of the abuse on them, including feelings of shame, low self-worth, upset and anger.

One complainant said Daly was a “monster”, a “sick, sick man” and “disgusting”.

“You are nothing but a coward. You ducked and dived all your life, but the jury saw through you. You are the abuser, you are the rapist,” she said

Another told the court she is slowly rebuilding her life and wants closure on this “awful part” of it.

The court heard Daly had cruelly silenced one victim with threats against beloved animals.

The investigating garda agreed with Dean Kelly SC, defending, that Daly has a long work history.

Mr Kelly told the court his client accepts the verdicts of the jury. Counsel said he was instructed to apologise to the victims, though it is accepted this may be of little comfort.

Mr Kelly asked the court to take into account that his client was a teenager for some of the offending, and that his client has a small number of previous convictions, primarily for road traffic offences.

Counsel submitted that Daly's offending took place in two distinct phases, separated by a long period of time, acknowledging that the second tranche of offending is extremely serious.

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 drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.