A Limerick man has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for the rape and sexual assault of a teenage girl.
52-year-old Patrick O’Dea of Pike Avenue in Limerick City isolated, manipulated and groomed the young girl in the 1990s and raped her once in a graveyard.
His now 37-year-old victim, Leona O’Callaghan, waived her right to anonymity so he can be named.
O’Dea, who pleaded guilty, is already serving 15 years for raping a different girl and this 17-year sentence will run concurrent to that.
Leona O’Callaghan has bravely spoken outside court about the man who raped her when she was a teenager. One attack was in a graveyard. He was jailed for 17 years but that’s to run concurrent to a 15 year sentence he’s already serving for raping a different girl. pic.twitter.com/CbFFsDHPdN
— Stephanie Rohan (@StephGrogan3) November 19, 2018
Ms O’Callaghan told reporters outside court the mental injuries he caused her were worse than the physical ones.
“I suppose the damage he did to my mind was the hardest part to get over,” she said.
“Obviously the rape is physical and it did damage to my body and the pain as immense but the mind takes a lot longer to recover from and I suppose, the self hatred and the self doubt that you go through.
“About what you could have done differently; about why he chose you in particular; about the times I didn’t say no, I didn’t fight back.”
Watch: Leona O’Callaghan speaks to Ciara Kelly about her experience in the courts.
