Mother calls sentence for man who raped her children an ‘absolute disgrace’
A mother whose three children were raped by her former partner has publicly criticised the overall jail sentence imposed on him.
Georgina Tuohey said she has already asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal the case, which was the last of three separate court cases involving her children, now adults.
Ms Tuohey was speaking outside the Court of Criminal Justice after Brendan Cornally, aged 51, of O’Brien Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly, was given an effective jail sentence of 17-and-a-half years for the rape of two of her boys and the sexual assault of her daughter.
The court had heard how Mr Cornally developed a relationship with Ms Tuohey as she was coming out of a difficult situation and was vulnerable and, over time, exhibited a “fatherly role” to the children and “gained her trust” to look after them while she worked.
At the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Ms Justice Caroline Biggs said experts believed it was “highly likely” that the stress around the impending court case in 2023 triggered the trauma the boy had suffered in 2018, when aged 13, putting him in a “catatonic” state.
This boy, now a 19-year-old man still suffering catatonia, had a mild autism at the time of the abuse, which Mr Cornally was aware of, the court heard.
Ms Biggs said that Mr Cornally was already serving a sentence of 11 years and nine months for the cases involving one of Ms Tuohey’s sons and her daughter.
She sentenced Mr Cornally to a further 11 years for the third case after discounting four years for a guilty plea, giving an initial term of 22 years and nine months.
But after discounting two years and nine months to reflect the law on imposing consecutive sentences (sentences that run on top of each other) and suspending two-and-a-half years to incentivise rehabilitation, the overall sentence was reduced to 17-and-a-half years.
Ms Tuohey said this, in effect, meant a sentence of five years and nine months for the rape of her third child.
When the judgement was handed down, Ms Tuohey, from the body of the court, called the sentence “an absolute disgrace” and said her children “have been destroyed” by Brendan Cornally.
Outside the CCJ, Ms Tuohey said: “I am very, very disappointed. How am I supposed to come here and ask people in similar situation – and there are many – to come forward to put your case to the judge knowing your case will be heard and that the sentence will reflect the harm?
“Today I don’t believe that happened. However, we will appeal. I do have to feel there is a sense of justice out there. We are appealing the decision for crimes committed to my son, with special needs. He only got five-and-a-half years for harm he sustained to my children with additional needs.”
She said the catatonic effects were severe: “He was not able to move, to eat, he became incontinent, he stopped talking, he was borderline of being tube-fed. Now, he can neither read nor write.
“He was doing well, he held his own, he had just done the Leaving Cert 18 months ago. Now he can’t read or write. He can’t be left alone, he can’t cross the road, he can’t shower. Ever two days his memory is wiped clean because of trauma.”
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