THE VICTIM of a sexual assault has told counsellors she feels she may have to leave her home town having watched people queue in a courtroom to sympathise with her attacker.
Up to 50 people, mostly middle-aged and elderly men, queued to shake hands with or hug Danny Foley before he was jailed for five years at Tralee Circuit Court on Wednesday,
Foley (35), of Meen, Listowel, Co Kerry, was sentenced to seven years in jail, with the final two suspended, for sexually assaulting the woman outside a nightclub in Listowel in June 2008.
Groups working with victims of rape and sexual assault yesterday described as “shocking” and “unbelievable” the community support shown to the convicted sex offender.
The victim had been discovered by a Garda patrol in a semiconscious state and naked from the waist down, alongside a skip in a car park near the nightclub.
Foley told gardaí he had found her there, but later changed his story when it emerged CCTV footage showed him carrying her from the club to the spot.
Vera O’Leary, manager of the Kerry Rape Crisis Centre, said the victim, who was in court waiting to give her victim impact statement as Foley was supported, had been “confused and just completely in shock that this could be allowed to happen”.
She said the young woman, who had family in Listowel, felt she may have to leave the town.
“We are advising her not to make any decision yet. She is completely blameless. If it continues that she gets snide remarks and dirty looks, well it will be difficult for her to stay.”
Ms O’Leary said there had been a “small bit of elation when he was found guilty” two weeks ago.
“She had always been so clear about herself. She knew she had not given consent to this man. How could she have? She was semi in a coma with alcohol? She was always very clear about that. ‘I am telling the truth. He had no right to do this to me. I have a responsibility to myself and to other women to tell the truth about this’.
“And the case went so well. The guards were brilliant, the prosecution were brilliant and the judge was brilliant.
“And now after what happened in the court, well that’s all been ruined unfortunately.”
The centre had been inundated with calls and e-mails from Listowel and across the State, said Ms O’Leary, from people dissociating themselves from the actions of those in court, including the Castlegregory parish priest, Fr Seán Sheehy, who was among those to sympathise with Foley.
He maintained his support for the offender on radio yesterday.
“That is important for the victim, to know she has the support of the majority of people,” said Ms O’Leary.
The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ellen O’Malley Dunlop, said the case underlined the need to raise awareness that it was “not okay for a man to force himself on a woman, or a man, when they’ve said ‘No’”.
She called for age-appropriate education for boys and girls at primary and secondary levels, about respect and rights within relationships.
Rape Crisis Centre free helpline: 1800 778888
