PRESIDENT OF THE Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) Gerry O’Mahony has been found guilty of sexual assault.
O’ Mahony, aged 67 with an address at Murphy Place, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault on a date between 1 January and 31 December 2010.
But a jury of 10 men and two women deliberated for approximately four hours before returning a unanimous verdict of guilty this afternoon in Waterford Circuit Criminal Court.
The victim has retained her right to anonymity but permission was granted in court to name O’Mahony.
In June of this year, O’Mahony stepped aside from performing his duties as president of the IABA until such time as the criminal trial was complete.
Today marked the fifth day of the trial, where O’Mahony was accused of a single count of sexual assault against a woman known to him.
During evidence, the court heard from the woman, who described the accused as ‘a father figure’ to her from her early teenage years. The court heard that he ‘groomed’ her as a teenager with lifts home, a supply of cheap alcohol and offers to sell her knuckledusters.
Speaking from the witness box last Wednesday, 23 October, the woman recalled her father having a problem with alcohol addiction when she was younger. This was something well known in the area, and she believes, a motivating factor in the accused’s actions.
Sections of a diary she kept while attending counselling sessions were read out in court.
She said it is her belief that she ‘was groomed from the age of 14′. She believes now that her ‘hectic’ and ‘chaotic’ life at home left her wide open to ‘predatory’ actions by the man.
She reflected on him supplying her and her friends with litres of alcoholic spirits and said it ‘wasn’t right, knowing you weren’t going down the right path’.
In her teenage years, whilst not of a legal age to drink alcohol, the woman claims O’Mahony would supply her with alcohol for very little money.
It was not unusual for him to offer to drive her home after work, she said, an offer which she accepted on occasion. He would also drive her and her friends home from a night out to save them the trouble of getting a taxi in the busier hours.
Addressing the jury during the trial, the woman recalled an occasion when she and her friends were driven home by the accused.
“I asked him to drop me home first as it made sense with where I was living, but he said he would drop my friends home first and then bring me home.”
She claims that having dropped her friends home, the man took a detour to a carpark where he stopped the car and turned the engine off.
She said he then asked her repeatedly to perform oral sex on him, which she refused several times.
Speaking in court, she said when he asked this, she ‘thought he was a creep’.
During further evidence, the court heard that on a night some time after this, Gerry O’Mahony gave the woman a drink before he was due to drive her home after a night out.
She stated that she could only manage a few sips, after which she passed out, lying down on a flat surface.
On waking, she discovered her underwear and trousers were down, one of her long-heeled boots had been removed, and O’Mahony was performing a sex act on her without her consent.
The woman reported the incident to gardaí in 2021, motivated after seeing a social media post by O’Mahony in which he talked about dignity and respect.
The woman said she did not report the assault at the time as she “suffered from anxiety and was so afraid of people knowing”. As a result, people in her immediate family and friend circle were not aware, and she tried to move on with her life, having finished up as an employee of Gerry O’Mahony a few weeks after the sexual assault occurred.
However, she came upon the post on social media in September 2021 which referenced the forthcoming elections for the IABA. In it, he wrote about “the right to expect truth” from elected officials, and the need which people have to trust those who stand for election.
In the post, he also wrote about the need for change and respect.
In court, she said the post ‘boiled’ her blood and she messaged Gerry privately saying:
“You raped me, that’s what you did. You sexually assaulted me. I looked up to you as a father figure.”
She received no reply to her messages.
Following this in 2022, she made the decision to report the sexual assault to An Garda Síochána, supplying evidence in the form of messages and diary entries.
Throughout the course of the trial, which was presided over by Judge Eugene O’Kelly, the 67-year-old had been remanded on continuing bail.
An application for continuing bail was made by the defence led by Mr. Colman Cody BL, citing O’Mahony’s health issues stemming from a diagnosis of encephalitis nine years ago.
Mr. Conor O’Doherty BL acting for the DPP made an application for O’Mahony to be remanded in custody until sentencing. Judge O’Kelly considered both applications before saying he was not satisfied O’Mahony has any health issues which cannot be managed by the Irish Prison Service and therefore remanded the 67-year-old in custody until his sentencing.
He will appear before Waterford Circuit Criminal Court via video link on 3 December.
A deadline has been set by the courts for the collation of any necessary characters references and supporting documentation.
In a statement this evening, the IABA said it is “aware of the outcome of the criminal case” against its president.
The organisation confirmed again that O’Mahony had stepped aside from his duties in June 2024.
“We are respectful of the criminal process, and the decision of the jury, and we note that sentencing is due to be carried out in December,” the statement continued.
“Sexual assault has no place in our organisation or in society generally and the IABA will not tolerate abuses of any kind.”
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