Dundalk man jailed for sexually assaulting three of his nieces

A father of five who admitted sexually assaulting three of his nieces by marriage when they were children, has been jailed for six years and five months at Dundalk Circuit Court.

The victims waived their anonymity to ensure that Bill Morrissey (58) of Brookwood Lawns, Red Barns Road, Dundalk, could be named.

The three sexual assaults occurred on dates unknown between January 1997 and December 31st 1999 and were investigated by the Louth Divisional Protective Services Unit.

The first victim was about seven years old when she stayed over with her cousins and she was abused when she woke up in the middle of the night.

She made a formal complaint in August 2019, and in her victim impact statement said she had been a chatty and happy go lucky girl before her childhood was taken away from her and she has been on antidepressants since she was 15.

The second victim was in her mid teens, when she was assaulted by the defendant as she went to make him a cup of tea and he tried to take off her clothes and while the teenager kicked and screamed during a struggle, he only stopped when he was interrupted by the cries of a child upstairs and he threw money on the kitchen counter afterwards.

The court heard she finds it hard to trust anyone and her anxiety developed into agoraphobia.

The third victim was seven or eight when she was sexually assaulted on a sleep-over after a birthday party.

The accused is a father of three adult children from his former marriage and has two young children from a second relationship.

The defendant, who had 40 previous convictions, none of which were for sexual offences, had written a letter of apology.

Judge Dara Hayes said the offending was a gross breach of trust as an uncle by marriage and the victims had their childhood stolen from them so the defendant could satisfy his sexual deviancy.

He noted that while remorse was not expressed in the probation report the accused had discussed it with his GP many years ago and with his church pastor four years before the guilty pleas were entered.

He imposed consecutive sentences totalling seven years and five months, with the final 12 months suspended on the 58 year old entering a good behaviour bond and placing himself under Probation Service supervision with a view to a pre-release plan to safeguard being prepared in particular in relation to accommodation.

The judge also directed that the defendant has no unsupervised contact with any child under 18 years of age.

Addressing the three women, Judge Hayes said "What happened you should never have happened. You were children and were entitled to live your lives as children" and wished them all the best with their future.