‘You crushed my soul': Brave rape victim speaks after ex-husband jailed

A brave woman who was raped and coercively controlled by her then husband has spoken of how the ordeal affected her.

Kathleen Correia waived her right to anonymity to allow Sergio Correia to be named.

This week, the 48-year-old Sergio Correia, of Front Street, Ardara, was sentenced to eight years in jail at the Central Criminal Court after being convicted by a jury of two counts of anal rape and one count of coercive control of Kathleen Correia.

The offences occurred between January and December 2019.

Kathleen Correia met Sergio in Portugal in 2006 and they got married in 2012. After living in Portugal for a time, they returned to Ireland with their three children.

Sergio, who hails from Portugal, demanded sex from his wife at least five times per week and concealed a drug habit.

This week, Kathleen faced down her attacker as she said in a victim impact statement: “You crushed my soul and broke me as a person. I lost my voice. If I didn’t do what you wanted our marriage wouldn’t have lasted and you made that clear.

“You made me feel obligated. The trail of destruction caused by your actions, the trauma I’ve been left with, so much hurt and devastation.

“What was I going to do? The reality of not feeling safe with my husband was frightening, I was so scared.

“I didn’t know who I was anymore, I was haunted by the abuse and rapes. I was not comfortable in my own body. I wanted to be somebody else.”

READ NEXT: Donegal woman admitted to Supreme Court in Sydney as lawyer

Ms Correia lost 20kg and suffered from a mental breakdown following the horrific incidents. In the summer of 2019, Ms Correia was anally raped by her then-husband at a hotel in Dublin.

"I just lived in fear every day of what's going to happen,” she said. “And ‘no’ never meant no. No matter how many times I said ‘no’, he never listened.”

Ms Justice Melanie Greally sentenced Sergio Correia to nine-and-a-half years in prison on each of the two rape counts, suspending the final 18 months. He was also given a two-and-a-half year sentence, to run concurrently, for the coercive control of Kathleen Correia.

"I felt relief, relief that I made it,” she told Prime Time. “I’ve survived. My life is going to get better. I know it'll get better. There is light because it has been very dark and isolating, and so much shame. I just felt like a weight was lifted. I felt like I was carrying this for so long."

Ms Correia praised An Garda Siochana’s handling of her case and in particular the Garda Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU).

She said:  "They treated me with compassion and empathy... I just felt at ease when I met with them, and they believed me."