The former president of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) Gerard O’Mahony been jailed for 39 months for sexually assaulting and taking a picture of the private part of a 19 year old girl who thought of him as a “father figure.”
In sentencing at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday, Judge Eugene O’Kelly said that Mr O’Mahony (67) who is also a former town councillor, had suffered a spectacular “fall from grace.”
He jailed Mr O’Mahony of Murphy Place, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Co Waterford for four years suspending the final nine months of the sentence arising out of his advanced age, poor health and previous good character.
Judge O’Kelly said that the victim had given evidence that she felt “groomed” by Mr O’Mahony in a “slow, deliberate process.” Mr O’Mahony gave the young woman, who is now in her thirties, alcohol when she was underage.
Judge O’Kelly said far from an “intermittent act of kindness” as suggested by the defence the giving of alcohol to an underage teenager was a serious and aggravating factor in the case.
Mr O’Mahony was remanded in custody in October after a jury of ten men and two women took just under four hours to unanimously convict him of a charge of sexually assaulting the young woman.
The jurors at the five day trial had been told that Mr O’Mahony breached the trust of the young woman in the worst way possible.
The complainant reported that Mr O’Mahony spiked her drink when she called him for a lift before partially stripping her and sexually assaulting her. He also took a picture of her vagina.
The sexual assault of the teenager occurred on a date unknown between January 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2010. The victim wishes to retain her right to anonymity. However, she wanted Mr O’Mahony to be named.
In June of this year Mr O'Mahony stepped aside from his position as President of the IABA ahead of his trial.
Today at the sentencing hearing Det Sgt Peter Clifford said that Mr O’Mahony was aware of difficulties of the home life of the young woman. He indicated that the victim was under the impression that Mr O’Mahony was a “fatherly figure” who had her “best interests” at heart.
Jurors at the trial in Waterford last October heard that Mr O’Mahony was a trusted figure in the life of the young woman.
The court was told that Mr O’Mahony ‘groomed’ the then young woman giving her lifts home and by giving her alcohol when she was underage. Defence counsel Colman Cody, SC, strongly refuted this claim.
The complainant told the court that Mr O’Mahony had asked her to contact him if she was ever unable to get a taxi home.
When she did O’Mahony insisted she have a drink while she waited for a lift home at a premises. The court heard that she feared he had put something in her glass of vodka as she became drowsy and sick as she drank it.
The woman said she felt “a little bit rocky.”
“I ended up lying on my back and he asked me did I want to have sex, I said ‘No’ …. I felt disassociated, it was an out of body experience,” she said.
All I can remember is that he took off one boot. I don’t remember anything else because I passed out … when I came to, my leggings and my underwear were down around my ankles and his head was between my legs.”
She stated that the accused suggested “it was just a bit of fun.” However, she informed him that “it was not fun.” He texted her the following morning asking, “Do you remember last night?” and she replied ‘No, can you tell me?”
Later the day Mr O’Mahony showed her an intimate photograph of her which was stored on his phone. He refused to delete the picture and it was subsequently found by his wife and daughter.
O’Mahony later texted her and asked her if she was going to make a complaint to the gardaí about what had occurred.
He said that if she was, he would hop on a ferry to the UK. The young woman said that she had no plan to make a garda complaint.
However, the complainant, who is now in her thirties, had a change of heart when she read a post which Mr O’Mahony made on Facebook three years ago.
The court heard that Mr O’Mahony was looking for support in his bid to run for role of President of the IABA in 2021. In the post the married businessman spoke about the need for “trust and respect.”
The woman found his post extremely triggering sent a private message to Mr O’Mahony on Messenger in which she told him that he should practice what he preached.
She said in a message: “You raped me, that’s what you did, you sexually assaulted me, and I looked on you as a father figure.”
The victim subsequently made a complainant to gardaí and Mr O’Mahony was arrested in 2022. He still protests his innocence in the case.
The accused has been in custody since October 30th of this year, after he was convicted of the offence.
In a powerful victim impact statement at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon the complainant, who is now in her thirties, said that the father of three, who turned 67 on Tuesday, his sentencing day, had left her a “broken damaged individual.”
However, reporting the matter and finally having a conviction in the case has allowed her to “reclaim” her life. She first met him when she was just 14 years old.
She said that being sexually assaulted by a person she trusted had destroyed many years of her life and that she was “ready to expose the harm caused.”
“I looked at him [Gerry O’Mahony] as a father figure. Someone to protect and me. When I think back to my 14 year old self vulnerable innocently and desperately seeking guidance I am consumed by a deep visceral disgust.”
She said that Mr O’Mahony was “calculating” seeing her not as a “child to nurture” but instead seeing her sexual object to exploit. She expressed hope that her actions would provide inspiration to others in her position.
“If my voice gives someone the strength to speak their truth than the ordeal will have been worth it.”
She told Judge O’Kelly that she had sought professional help in 2018. The woman indicated that she has suffered from hallucinations, disassociation, post traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks. She said she was “fighting against memories” she couldn’t seem to outrun.
The woman said that Mr O’Mahony had exploited her need for “fatherly approval”. She finds it difficult to make “close connections” and puts up walls around herself in relationships.
Meanwhile, Conor O'Doherty BL, for the State, had told the trial that a friend of the woman had confirmed she was told of the sexual assault at the time of the offence and had seen a text message that the businessman had sent to the victim.
The friend had encouraged the complainant to go to the gardaí at the time but she didn’t want anyone to know as she was afraid of being talked about or judged.
Mr O’Mahony has been in custody in relation to the offence since October 30th. The court heard of his poor health. He has a pacemaker and defibrillator fitted which is linked to monitoring services at University Hospital Waterford (UHW).
Defence counsel, Colman Cody SC, had appealed for leniency in the case citing the advanced age of his client, his battle with encephalitis a cancer and his previous good character.
A number of testimonials were handed in to the court on his behalf with friends calling the father of three a good family man who had made a significant contribution to the community in his work with boxers and in his role as a town councillor.
Mr O’Mahony has one previous conviction for a minor road traffic offence.
