January 2002 Dad’s Heartbreak as Jailed Paedophile Is Finally Unmasked A FATHER whose two daughters were subjected to horrific sexual abuse told yesterday how his family had been “touched by evil”. Pervert Daniel Walshe was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for abusing three children. The heartbroken father of two of the victims, spoke out after Walshe, himself a father of two, was sentenced. He said: “We have cried so much that there are no tears left. “We were devastated when our daughters told of the disgusting litany of abuse that this self-confessed paedophile subjected them to over a protracted period of time.” Walshe, 42, used sweets to entice the children to the house where the assaults took place His abuse only emerged when one of the victims, who was aged five at the time, told her mother. The victims’ father, who cannot be named, said: “The whole process has been a painful one and has taken its toll on us, both emotionally and physically. “At this stage we want to move on with our lives and allow our children to continue to develop within as normal an environment as possible.” He said his family had travelled “an unimaginable journey of pain, grief and despair”. The father added: “We always believed in the innate goodness of human beings. “We have lived by the ethic that we would do no harm to others but would actively do good. Perhaps we were naive, I don’t know.” Victim impact reports have shown that both girls, although affected, are now doing well. But they stated this was in no way related to anything Walshe had done. Their father added: “The only reason that they are doing well is because my wife and I have focussed all of our strength and energy into stabilising their world, with the result that we have shouldered their pain and anguish. “We did nothing to warrant this. We did not hurt anyone. “But God knows there have been many times when we wanted to inflict physical damage on the abuser of our children. We are not like him, though.” Dundalk Circuit Court heard how Walshe pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the three girls. A detective described the offences which occurred between May 1997 and September 2000 as “horrific”. One of the girls was abused for three years from the time she was five. The abuse stopped when the girl refused to be enticed into Walshe’s home. His second victim, a sister of the first girl, was aged four when she was lured by Walshe. A mask was placed over her eyes and she was abused. When the third victim, who was aged five at the time, was tempted into the house on the promise of sweets, the door was locked and then she was masked and abused. Pervert Walshe also took pictures of this victim. The young girl was allowed out of the house when she said she did not want to play any more and she alerted her mother. Det Garda Maureen McFadden, who prepared reports on the victims, told the court that the three girls had been traumatised by what happened and she was concerned at the long-term effect of the abuse. She said: “Their childhood innocence has been destroyed.” The court heard the defendant was now split up from his own family. A defence barrister told the court his client had a hard upbringing and this had moulded him into a loner and a depressed character with a drink dependency. Walshe had been attending the Granada Institute which treats people with sexual problems. And his counsel told the court Walshe was considered unlikely to re-offend. Judge Raymond Groarke said the defendant had gone about the offences in a cold, careful, cunning and calculated way. Last Thursday he imposed a nine-year jail term but suspended the final 18 months. He rejected an application that Walshe’s name remain confidential but prohibited publication of any details which would identify his victims or their families.