This article is from page 14 of the 2012-05-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A MAN who was sexually assaulted as a child has said he is “shocked” by a judge’s decision to hand down a suspended sentence to the offender.
The man was speaking at Ennis courthouse yesterday after Cyril Maxwell (67) received a four-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charges of indecent assault.
Charges of buggery against Mr Maxwell, with an address at Loughnash, Newmarket-on-Fergus, were vacated following a recent decision by the Supreme Court.
Surrounded by his family, the man said, “He destroyed my life and only for my family I wouldn’t be here. Somebody can walk into Dunnes Stores and rob a bar of chocolate and they get 12 months in jail.”
He added, “We were shocked. We thought he was going downstairs. He did me no favours by admitting his guilt because it didn’t take it away. I have been in psychiatric units since I was 20. I have tried to commit suicide three times; two of them were very close. That’s what my life has been like.”
The man said he was glad to have made the complaint. He also praised the work of local gardaí involved in the case.
The man’s daughter said that it was a “joke” that the buggery charges against Mr Maxwell were vacated
The assaults occurred over a twoyear period in Clare in the late 1960s, when the man was in his twenties and the victim was a young teenager.
The court heard that Mr Maxwell suffered from Jacobs Syndrome, a sex chromosome abnormality, and is subject to a significant regime of monitoring and anti-testosterone medication.
Judge Moran said, “This case has caused me a considerable degree of trouble.” He said that, in normal circumstances, he would impose a custodial sentence. He said the abuse had occurred a long time ago, the accused had offered an early plea of guilty, and he had also been on a course of medication since 1984.
Judge Moran said there was a low risk of Mr Maxwell re-offending. “I think it would be wrong to impose a custodial sentence. It is one of those exceptional cases.”
He imposed a four-year suspended sentence. He ordered the accused to keep the peace for a period of four years.