A west Dublin man who sexually abused his daughter while reading her bedtime stories as well as sexually interfering with six other young females over a 15-year period has been given a five-year prison sentence.
Bernard Delaney's daughter, who later informed the media through her solicitor that she wanted him named, wept as she told Judge Katherine Delahunt: "If your father does that to you and your mother stands by him, it makes you feel worthless."
Delaney (66), of Oaktree Lawn, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 14 sample counts of indecent assault against the seven victims on dates between October 1974 and November 1989.
His now 40-year-old daughter told Judge Delahunt "my heart is broken" over what he had done to her. She said counselling "made me realise we are adults and someone has to stand up for children". The woman described feeling isolated, mistrustful of men and overprotective of her own children. "My father's guilty plea is the only thing I will say 'thank you' for."
The other women described in their victim impact reports how they suffered from suicidal feelings, mistrust of men, panic attacks and insomnia. Many described a negative impact on family and marital relationships and having concerns about children being left alone with men.
The judge told the victims that a change in legislation over the 15 years of Delaney's offending behaviour meant the maximum penalty available to her in some of the cases was two years' imprisonment, while the sentence available in the later offences was 10 years.
She said it was important the women involved understood this so they didn't think she was minimising the impact Delaney's offences had on some of them.
Judge Delahunt said she took into account the multiplicity of the charges, the number and young ages of the victims, the fact that his actions represented a breach of trust and that he carried out some of the offences while others were present.
She suspended the last 12 months of the sentence because Delaney had now gained some "victim empathy" through treatment at the Granada Institute and was considered to be at a low risk of re-offending.
Defence counsel Luigi Rea SC said Delaney was a retired man who was now "a pariah in his own family" and would be "watched by a hawk's eye" by family members around children . "He is punished every day in a very real way." Mr Rea said Delaney's wife, who sat beside him in the court, was in "an appalling dilemma" and he apologised for the position she found herself in.
Counsel submitted there were no aggravating factors which often accompanied such cases and said his client had not come to Garda attention again since the last of the offences in 1989.
Delaney had voluntarily attended counselling in the early 1990s and now appreciated how traumatic the abuse had been. "He has sent letters of apology to all his victims," Mr Rea added.