THE CHILD AND Family Agency, Tusla has apologised to a young woman who was orally raped and sexually assaulted by her foster dad when she was 16 years old and said she experienced a “lack of support” from the agency.
Ciara Monahan was orally raped and sexually assaulted three years ago by her foster dad Richard Moloney, who she had been living with for over five years in Co Tipperary.
Richard Moloney of Roscrea, Co Tipperary was found guilty by a jury of one count of rape, one count of oral rape and one count of sexually assaulting his then 16-year-old foster daughter at their Tipperary home on 16 July, 2016.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison last month, over three years after the assault.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie about her decision to waive her anonymity, Ciara said she felt there had been a “lack of support” from Tusla and that she “felt let down” in the aftermath of the attack.
She said her social worker was reassigned shortly after the attack and that she waited months before a new one was assigned to her.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, Tusla has apologised to the now 19-year-old.
“Any abuse or allegation of abuse is taken extremely seriously by Tusla,” it said.
“In Ciara’s case, Tusla very much regret that Ciara may feel that Tusla did not support her sufficiently and we apologise to her for this.
“We will support Ciara in any possible way – including through the provision of an Aftercare service – going forward to ensure she is provided with as much assistance as she needs to aid her recovery.”
During the trial, in which her attacker pleaded not guilty, Ciara waived her right to anonymity. She said she hopes her experience will show other victims that justice is possible and encourages other people in similar situations to report their attacker to the gardaí.
“I did it for every other girl who’s afraid to speak up, because it’s really hard, and I sometimes questioned myself about why I did say anything in the first place – because it’s been so difficult,” she said of going public.
“But now that justice has been served, I would recommend every other girl to speak up. Not everyone is going to believe you but you know yourself and that’s all you can do,” she added.
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