Married man jailed for seven years for raping boy

A married man who falsely labelled his then 14-year-old victim "a rent boy" has been jailed for seven years by Mr Justice Paul…

A married man who falsely labelled his then 14-year-old victim "a rent boy" has been jailed for seven years by Mr Justice Paul Carney for raping the boy.

Brian Flynn (33), Kilmore Road, Knocknaheeny, Cork, was found guilty by a Central Criminal Court jury on a 10-2 majority of committing the crime on May 28th, 2001.

The jury of four men and eight women reached their verdict after almost six hours' deliberations on day three of the hearing in February.

Flynn was also jailed for four years on a separate charge of sexually assaulting the boy, having pleaded guilty on this count at the start of his trial.

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The sentences are to run concurrently and to date from October 2003, when he was taken into custody on a bench warrant for failing to appear for trial.

The victim's mother told Mr Justice Carney her son's life and that of their family had been destroyed by Flynn's crime.

She said her son had gone from being an "A" student to failure and had threatened to commit suicide by hanging himself from their landing.

"He was a well-balanced and a good boy before this but became disruptive and depressed.

"I was called to the school several times about the drastic changes in him," she said. Her son is now aged 18.

She added that Flynn had shown no remorse and had laughed in the faces of her family. "He has destroyed our lives. We will never be the same again."

Mr Justice Carney, who certified Flynn as a sex offender, told the victim's mother he would take her evidence into consideration in sentencing, but the Court of Criminal Appeal had ruled that it was not a contest between the culprit and the victim but between the State and the culprit.

He said he would also not take any threat of suicide into account from any side because anyone could come to court and make such a threat.

Mr Justice Carney said the court had been told that drink played a large role in this crime, but he could not see that drink afforded any mitigation whatever. In some jurisdictions it would be considered an aggravation.

He said the probation report indicated Flynn still resisted taking responsibility for raping the boy; among the other matters he was taking into account were the breach of trust relating to what Flynn did to a young neighbour, the victim's age, a threat to kill him and his "false innuendo" that he was "a rent boy".

Sgt David Foley told prosecuting counsel Justin Dillon SC earlier, that Garda investigations could find no substance whatever to the "rent-boy" claim.

Sgt Foley described Flynn as "a habitual drinker".

He had a number of previous convictions at the district court going back to 1993 for public order offences, and was jailed for six months for failing to appear for trial. Mr Justice Carney said that Flynn's previous convictions had no relevance to this case and he discounted them in his sentencing.

He refused leave to appeal conviction and sentence.

Flynn's wife had told defence counsel Ciarán O'Loughlin SC during the trial she was "in shock" when she came to the bedroom and saw the youth trying to pull on his trousers while her husband was fully dressed.