A WOMAN WHO was raped by her stepfather on her 15th birthday has waived her anonymity to allow him to be named.
Anthony Byrne (55) was found guilty following a Central Criminal Court trial in May of two counts of raping his stepdaughter Kim Jordan in 2002.
Ms Jordan, who is now 36, waived her anonymity to allow Byrne to be named.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Jordan read to the court, she said Byrne had blamed her during the trial for his actions.
“I felt humiliated and shamed, as you portrayed me to be some kind of teenage sexual temptress,” she said.
Byrne, of Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, had come into her life when she was quite young and the court heard the relationship was significant for her as they were close when she was a child.
“After spending my very early years wondering why my biological father wasn’t around and why my family was broken, I felt as though my prayers had been answered and I finally had the family I longed for when Tony came into my life and that I finally had a dad,” she said.
“Little did I know his plan was to use me for his sick sexual pleasures and would go on to ruin my life.”
The court heard the offending occurred when Ms Jordan was in Spain on the day of her 15th birthday in 2002 and a few months later in her family home.
Ms Jordan made a complaint to gardaí in 2018 and outlined what had happened. When she was on a family holiday in Spain, she decided to go back to the apartment to have a shower before dinner. He was drinking a beer and while they were playing cards, he asked her if they could play strip poker.
He asked if he could enter the bathroom to use the toilet. He then dropped his shorts and insisted in washing her with sponge and drying her afterwards.
She said she was so embarrassed and was bawling crying. She had clothes laid out on the bed and then he said he was going to dry her.
He put his hand on her shoulder and put her back on the bed. It was then that he raped her. She said she zoned out and became completely numb wishing she was dead. She still has the memory of the woodchip wallpaper as she faced away while he was raping her. She was worried she would become pregnant.
On the second count of rape, on which he was convicted, some months after they had some back from Majorca, Byrne came in and took off her trousers and underwear. He tried to penetrate her but he wasn’t erect.
John Byrne SC, defending, said his client never denied sexual contact with the girl but denied any allegation of rape.
“Mr Byrne must respect the verdict of the jury but doesn’t accept it,” the barrister told the court.
Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said she noted that Byrne had said he was “having an affair with his teenage stepdaughter”.
Justice Ring said she was not in a position to impose a sentence Byrne until 31 July next due to the late submission of documents.
The judge also noted recent changes in the Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Bill meaning people convicted of a sexual offence must have character references made via oath or affidavit at sentencing hearings.
However, defence counsel objected to this and Justice Ring agreed the new law enacted last week only applied to those convicted following the passing of this bill.
“After spending my very early years wondering why my biological father wasn’t around and why my family was broken, I felt as though my prayers had been answered and I finally had the family I longed for when Tony came into my life and that I finally had a dad. Little did I know his plan was to use me for his sick sexual pleasures and would go on to ruin my life.
“To me, you were my best friend and someone I looked up to for most of my childhood. As a little girl, I should have felt safest at home, but you turned it into a place where I always had to be on guard. I now can see how calculated you were when you coached me into believing that if I spoke up about your abuse, our family would be ripped apart. You made sure I felt trapped, voiceless, and that I had nobody to turn to.
“Today, I stand here as an adult, 22 years after you raped me on my 15th birthday and taking away not only my virginity but also my innocence and my trust. The mental, physical, and emotional pain is still a daily battle for me. I am glad to stand here today having found my voice, in protection of my younger self, and to hold you accountable for the childhood and many years you so callously stole from me. I am and will continue serving a life sentence because of what you have done to me.
“When you got onto the stand, declaring that you yourself are a victim in this case, claiming that this was all a ploy to ruin your life in some way is absolute lunacy and you unfortunately proved yet again that you have zero remorse for your actions.
“You got up onto the stand in front of a judge and jury and stated that in your mind, the age of consent is 16, which leads me to believe that you knew what you were doing was wrong but that your own sick desires were more important than my bodily autonomy and always have been.
“Unfortunately for you, I am no longer that child that you can use for your disgusting pleasures. I no longer have to live with your lies. I will no longer keep your sick secret; it is now your burden to carry. Today, I am here to see you being held accountable for the suffering, scars, and torture you put me through all of my life.
“What you did to me broke me physically, mentally, and emotionally. You cost me my job, my career, and for a period of time, cost me my closest relationship. I had nothing. I felt worthless. I was out of work on long term sick leave for five long years, lost my income, my independence, and my zest for a future. I had to accept social welfare payments for these years which brought me great shame and grave concerns that life might never be ‘normal’ again.
“From the moment you came into my life, you knew that family was of utmost importance to me, and you have been determined to take away from me the family that I became a part of. These people were not only your family, but they were also my family, they were people I loved and cared about. I had dozens of cousins, all peers, friends even.
“All of this has been taken away from me with your cruel lies, victimising yourself and manipulating the family into thinking this that this was a plot by me to ‘ruin your life.’ Deep down, these people know me and have known me my entire life and know in their hearts that is not the person I am in the slightest but somehow, ‘you’re their brother and they have to stand by you.’
“When I came into adulthood and began to understand the reality of what you were doing to me was wrong, it shattered my life causing me to have a nervous breakdown over the course of five of the most difficult years of my life.
“After spending six years after school in full-time education, my career was set to be a resounding success. I worked endlessly to ensure my future would be bright, and different from the challenging upbringing I had endured growing up. This came to a crashing halt when I had a nervous breakdown.
“Realising that I had spent my life forcing down the truth of what had happened to me, becoming older and realising what had happened, I simply could not cope. I could not function. Life completely stopped. I didn’t leave the house for months on end, didn’t shower, didn’t speak to anyone, could not handle my thoughts and feelings.
“I was completely broken. Why did someone who loved me do such awful things to me? Why would you want to break me beyond repair? I thought I was your daughter, I thought you loved me. It still doesn’t make sense. These are all questions I can never answer.
“Intensive therapy soon became part of my life after you departed. I attended regular outpatient appointment with Psychiatry, an Occupational Therapist, counselling in ARC, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and finally and currently, 4 in 1. I visit my GP regularly and take medication daily for depression and anxiety. All of these therapies, and specialists, while saving my life, will continue to be part of my life moving forward as I attempt to try to live a normal life again.
“I am tortured by memories you have left me with and still to this day have nightmares regularly. The trauma of what you have done to me has ruined my desire to have children. I find it hard to trust anyone and could never bring a child into this world knowing first hand that people like you exist. I honestly believe this will haunt me until my grave, and life will never be as it should have been for me.
“Today, for me, should be a celebration of a win, of justice, finally. Instead, it is sad. It is sad because we never had to be here Tony. We did not need to be dragged through six years of legal matters, courts, and a trial. You could have spared us this further pain by taking responsibility for your actions and pleading guilty. Instead, all you have shown is how a father should never be.
“Not only did you ensure I was tortured once more by having to take the stand at trial, where I was examined and cross examined in grave detail, about the harrowing details of each and every time you abused me. I felt humiliated and shamed, as you portrayed me to be some kind of teenage sexual temptress. You then added further trauma by taking the stand to launch your campaign of vitriolic downright lies. The vulgar way you spoke was disgraceful. The only words I have left to say are shame on you.
“My final parting note to you is this. From the moment I met you, I never wanted anything from you except for you to love me like a father should. I idolised you. I wanted you to walk me down the aisle at my wedding, to help me move into our first house, and to always be someone I loved and was proud of.
“I could not believe how lucky I was to have a man who wanted to be my father and I now feel so sad for that child who once thought that you would be capable of this. I now know you are not capable of loving anybody unconditionally except for yourself. Now you stand here in front of us, I can honestly say that I feel nothing but shame and regret to have loved, trusted, and believed in you.
“Today, I am proud of who I am. I will not carry your shame or guilt anymore I will not keep your dirty secrets. Your parting has shown me how families SHOULD be; loving, supportive, respectful, and safe, things that you were never capable of being. I can no longer be manipulated by you or made afraid.
“I have spent enough of my life at rock bottom piecing my life together, and I refuse to lose another day to you. Today, I leave that shame and regret here, with you because thankfully, this is no longer my burden to carry.”
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