AN 82-YEAR-OLD man who raped his daughter from the age of 12 until she was in her early twenties has been jailed for fifteen years for putting her through a “sustained campaign of sexual abuse” and “degradation.”

Edward Molyneaux of Kilshenane, Listowel, Co Kerry was last month found guilty by unanimous verdict of 61 counts of raping his daughter Marie Murphy, three counts of indecent assault, and two charges of assault causing harm.

A jury at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court has heard that in addition to the sexual abuse the victim was beaten with a large leather strap and had a chair broken over her head when she was around twelve years old.

Even though the abuse was effectively admitted by Molyneaux when he was interviewed by gardaí he pleaded not guilty to all of the charges he faced.

The court had heard that he abused Marie in ditches, fields and lanes when the foundation of their family home in Kilshenane was being built.

The 59 year old victim in the case waived her right to anonymity.

Justice Siobhan Lankford said that the abuse was at the highest level of the scale.

She praised Marie Murphy for delivering her victim impact statement to her abuser in a “powerful” and “direct” manner and wished her and her family well for the future.

She said that the former mental health nurse, who also went on to work with teenagers, had succeeded in life in spite of an “appalling regime of abuse.”

Justice Lankford said that Molyneaux, who has not shown any remorse for his actions, may well die in prison.

She stated that the defendant had failed to accept the verdict even though he had admitted to gardaí in interviews that he was a paedophile.

Justice Lankford said that a plea in the case would have saved Marie Murphy the “huge trauma of a trial.”

She noted that the abuse took place in a number of different locations.

“Outdoors in ditches in circumstances which involved an unusal level of degradation. There is no prospect of rehabiliation. There is no basis for suspending (any portion of the sentence.)”

The trial had heard that when gardaí questioned Molyneaux in 2023 the pensioner admitted “playing sex games” with Marie.

He recalled seeing her in sexual terms at the age of four. He said that he was “having sex” from the age of fourteen or fifteen.

He told gardaí he used a condom as he was “afraid that she might get pregnant” and that he had sex with her “about once a week.”

When asked : “What would you call a person who is sexually aroused by a four year old ? “He replied. “A paedophile.”

Asked if he was a paedophile he said : “I am. But not to other kids.”

Meanwhile, in her victim impact statement Marie Murphy said that her father was a “master manipulator” who branded her as a “trouble maker”.

However, in reality she was just an innocent child being subjected to horrendous abuse.

She told her father that she was now free of him and it was time to rebuild her life.

She indicated that Molyneaux began raping her in their family home in the late 1970′s when she was 12 and continued doing so until she was in her early twenties.

“It’s time to speak out, I’m not keeping your secret anymore, it’s your shame, your blame, you’re the one who destroyed your name and your family,” Marie said.

“As a child I needed someone to advocate for me, ensuring no harm would come my way, to feel I was safe and secure – (but) knowing no different, this was my norm, I was his, to be abused in whichever manner he so chose, after all, I was of his making.”

She said that her father characterised her as a liar.

“I could read your face like an open book – to surrender as if to say, ‘You don’t dare best me’ – that you were going to dominate me, no matter what – you treated me as your sexual plaything, doing things that a child should never know – you robbed me of the innocence of childhood.

“While others would see you as a charismatic rogue that would help anyone out, you’re a master manipulator – no one saw the wreckage you were causing within the home and in my life.

“You beat me down saying that I would amount to nothing in this life. I have succeeded in life. I could read you like an open book. You treated me as your sexual play thing, That a child should never know. You robbed me of the childhood innocence.”

Marie Murphy said that she was “let down” during her childhood.

“I was let down by many during my childhood from family and outside agencies. All the signs were there, you only needed to look a little closer, that I was at high risk.

“But no one dared to approach you (her father) on any topic, due to the ramifications — the violence displayed at the drop of a hat.”

She added that other people in her situation should come forward.

“Speak the truth the you will be heard and believed. There is hope and there is help that others can guide you through the dark times and guide you in to the light. Be brave, reach out.

“If you are experiencing any form of abuse it stops right now Just take that one step to freedom and recovery.”

Marie Murphy thanked gardaí, lawyers, health professionals, counsellors and rape crisis centres.

Det Sgt Trevor Ryan said that the man raped his daughter in houses, sheds, lane and in ditches.

Even when she left home at the age of 18, he would continue to rape her when she returned home for holidays.

Prosecution counsel, Ray Boland SC said the DPP viewed the abuse as being “exceptional” in nature.

A school friend of Marie Murphy had told the trial that she saw the marks on Marie’s body consistent with her having been beaten with a belt.

Molyneaux has been placed on the sexual offenders register for the rest of his life.

The Director of Public Prosecutions had said that sentence of somewhere between 15 years and life imprisonment was merited for the accused.