TWO women who were sexually assaulted by a “monster” and a “paedophile” in their own homes as children called for more supports for victims after one had to wait three years to see a counsellor after contacting a rape crisis centre.
The two women, who were abused by Christopher O’Mahony (67), of Kerrykyle, Ardagh, County Limerick, were speaking after Limerick Council rates collector was jailed for nine years.
Judge Sinead McMullan, at the Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, lifted a ban preventing the media from reporting O’Mahony’s name after the court was informed that his victims – his daughter, Emma O’Shaughnessy (née O’Mahony), and his sister-in-law, Helen Costelloe – waived their right to anonymity.
Ms O’Shaughnessy and Ms Costelloe both encouraged other victims of sexual abuse, particularly child sex abuse, to come forward to break the stigma for victims and bring their abusers to justice.
They also called for more supports for rape crisis centres in order to cut waiting lists for abuse victims to see counsellors.
Ms Costelloe, who was sexually abused by O’Mahony from the ages of nine to14, said she was three years on a waiting list to see a counsellor after she sought help at a rape crisis centre.
Ms O’Shaughnessy, who was sexually assaulted by her father from when she was aged 10 to 13, said an abuser’s defence team “can actually request your psychological evaluations and notes from your psychiatrist or your counsellor”, which, she added, “kind of put me off seeking help because I felt that my abuser (would be) able to pick through my thoughts and my feelings without my consent”.
“I think it’s something the legal system needs to address — perhaps only the judge should be able to look at it and decide whether its admissible or not.”
O’Mahony was charged with a total of 54 counts on indictment, and pleaded guilty to 18 sample counts of sexually assaulting and indecently assaulting the two girls on dates in the 1980s and 1990s.
Judge McMullan said while all of the abuse was in itself the primary aggravating factor in the case, she highlighted several offences which she deemed to be the most serious, including O’Mahony masturbating and ejaculating onto his daughter, sexually assaulting her with his hand on the pretext of applying acne cream, and forcing himself on Ms Costello while she was using a public toilet.
“Ms Costelloe was in the toilet, there was no lock on the door, she was gathering up her clothing and he followed her into the toilet and forced her to kiss him, and he pulled his erect penis out and pushed his penis up against her naked vagina,” the judge said.
“She fought back and that’s when the sexual abuse stopped.”
Judge McMullan said “the effects on both victims was very profound, undoubtedly these little girls were subjected to huge suffering.”
“When your father is your abuser, that is an egregious breach of trust, a parent is supposed to be their child’s protector.”
“Mr O’Mahony warned them not to talk about it. In respect of Helen Costelloe, he told her it was ‘our secret’, and in respect of Emma O’Shaughnessy, he warned her to keep her mouth shut and not to tell her mother,” the judge added.
Reading a victim impact statement previously in the court, Ms O’Shaughnessy said her father should have been a loving protecting parent but that he was in reality a “monster” and a “paedophile”.
She told the court that her mother and two sisters had “chosen to support my abuser”.
O’Mahony also beat and psychologically abused his daughter, controlling when she was allowed go to the toilet and how much toilet paper she could use, which resulted in her suffering from urinary tract infections.
The abuse emerged after a family meeting when Ms O’Shaughnessy’s aunt, Helen Costelloe, disclosed she had been sexually abused by O’Mahony from when she was aged nine to 14, and Ms O’Shaughnessy told her family she too had been abused by her father.
Three days later, on July 7, 2021, O’Mahony, accompanied by his wife, presented himself at Henry Street Garda Station and admitted the abuse.
O’Mahony began sexually abusing Ms Costelloe after his marriage to her sister, who is 12 years her senior, and he moved into her family home.
The abuse “seeped into every crevice of my life, and my innocence as a child was robbed,” Ms Costelloe previously told the court.
Lily Buckley, prosecuting, said the victims’ family “still struggle to accept the truth”.
O’Mahony, who showed no emotion as he was led away to jail, instructed the court that he did not disagree with any of the evidence against him.
