A man who raped his stepdaughter on her 15th birthday has been jailed for nine-and-a-half years at the Central Criminal Court.
Anthony Byrne (55) was found guilty following a trial at the Central Criminal Court in May of two counts of raping his stepdaughter Kim Jordan (now 36) in 2002. Ms Jordan waived her anonymity to allow Byrne to be named.
Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring, who previously noted Byrne had said he was “having an affair with his teenage stepdaughter”, sentenced him to 11 years with the final 18 months suspended and backdated it to May 15th, 2024 for time spent in custody.
Byrne, of Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, came into Ms Jordan's life when she was three years old and the court heard the relationship was significant for her as they were close when she was a child.
The court heard the offending occurred when Ms Jordan was in Spain on the day of her 15th birthday in 2002 and several months later in her family home.
Ms Jordan made a complaint to gardaí in 2018 and outlined what had happened.
When she was on a family holiday in Spain, she decided to go back to the apartment to have a shower before dinner. Byrne was drinking a beer and while they were playing cards, he asked her if they could play strip poker until she was down to her underwear.
When she was having a shower, he asked if he could enter the bathroom to use the toilet. He then dropped his shorts and insisted on washing her. She said she was so embarrassed and was bawling crying. She had clothes laid out on the bed to get dressed quickly, and then he said he was going to dry her.
While he was raping her, she said she zoned out and became completely numb, wishing she was dead. She still has the memory of the woodchip wallpaper as she faced away while he was raping her. She was also worried she would become pregnant.
On the second count of rape of which he was convicted some months after they had come back from Majorca, Byrne came into her bedroom and took off her trousers and underwear. He tried to penetrate her but was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.
Ms Justice Ring said the aggravating factors were that it was a rape of a child and his stepdaughter. She said Byrne took advantage of the victim when there was no trustworthy adult present.
On one of the occasions he had raped her in her bedroom where she should have felt safe, but Byrne had “breached that safety”, the judge said.
Ms Justice Ring noted Byrne admitted throughout that he had sexual intercourse with her, but it was his view that it was consensual.
The judge said it was difficult to understand how any sexual encounter with a child was considered consensual. She said there was a lack of remorse and understanding of what consent is.
The judge noted that he had no previous convictions and has worked his whole life.
In a victim impact statement Ms Jordan read to the court, she said Byrne had blamed her during the trial for his actions.
“I felt humiliated and shamed, as you portrayed me as some kind of teenage sexual temptress,” she said.
Byrne had come into Ms Jordan's life when she was quite young and the court heard the relationship was significant for her as they were close when she was a child.
“After spending my very early years wondering why my biological father wasn’t around and why my family was broken, I felt as though my prayers had been answered, and I finally had the family I longed for when Tony came into my life and that I finally had a dad. Little did I know his plan was to use me for his sick sexual pleasures and would go on to ruin my life.”
The court heard she and her sister have continued a relationship despite Byrne trying to keep them apart.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
