A woman who was raped by her stepfather on her 15th birthday has waived her anonymity to allow him to be named.
Anthony Byrne (55) was found guilty following a Central Criminal Court trial 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.
In her victim impact statement, which she read to the court, Ms Jordan said Byrne had blamed her during the trial for his actions.
“I felt humiliated and shamed, as you portrayed me to be some kind of teenage sexual temptress,” she said.
Byrne, of Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, had come into her 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 the offending occurred when Ms Jordan was in Spain on the day of her 15th birthday in 2002, and a few months later in her family home.
Ms Jordan made a complaint to gardaí in 2018 and outlined what had happened.
The court heard that when she was on a family holiday in Spain she decided to go back to the apartment to have a shower before dinner. He was drinking a beer and while they were playing cards he asked her if they could play strip poker.
He asked if he could enter the bathroom to use the toilet. He then dropped his shorts and insisted on washing her with sponge and drying her afterwards. She said she was so embarrassed and was bawling crying. She had clothes laid out on the bed, and then he said he was going to dry her.
He put his hand on her shoulder and put her back on the bed. It was then that he raped 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 worried she would become pregnant.
The second incident happened some months after they had returned from Majorca, the court heard. Byrne came in and took off her trousers and underwear, and tried to penetrate her, but he was not erect.
John Byrne SC, defending, said his client never denied sexual contact with the girl, but denied any allegation of rape.
“Mr Byrne must respect the verdict of the jury but doesn’t accept it,” the barrister told the court.
Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring noted that Byrne had said he was “having an affair with his teenage stepdaughter”.
Justice Ring said she was not in a position to impose a sentence until July 31st due to the late submission of documents.
The judge also noted recent changes in the Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Bill, meaning people convicted of a sexual offence must have character references made via oath or affidavit at sentencing hearings.
However, defence counsel objected to this and Justice Ring agreed the new law enacted last week only applied to those convicted following the passing of the bill.
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.
