January 2009 Tralee paedophile jailed for three years CONVICTED paedophile Jerry Baily from Tralee has been jailed for three years for his abuse of two young boys, dating back over 30 years. Last November 75-year-old Jerome ‘Jerry’ Baily of Bayview House, Ballyard, Tralee, was convicted on four charges of indecent assault relating to two boys at various locations in north Kerry between 1975 and 1982 Following a week-long trial, Baily, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, was acquitted on five other charges of indecent assault and one charge of buggery. Seventeen other indecent assault charges, relating to the same two boys, which had been levelled at Jerry Baily, were dropped due to lack of evidence. In a victim impact statement, which was read to the court, one of the two victims, who was aged just seven when the abuse began, said Jerry Baily’s actions had scarred him for life. “The vile acts corrupted my innocence and caused so much confusion in my young child’s mind,” the victim said. “There is no aspect of my life this hasn’t affected. There’s no way I can discuss the full impact of these acts on my life in the short time the court can allow,” he said. Imposing sentence, Judge Carroll Moran said that, while Baily had shown “some insights into his wrongdoing”, he had “been in a position of trust and had abused that trust”. Judge Moran imposed an 18-month custodial sentence on Jerry Baily for three counts of indecent assault on one of his victims and a further 18 month custodial sentences in relation to a single count of indecent assault on the second victim. Both sentences are to run consecutively and began with immediate effect on Monday. In his evidence during the trial, Jerry Baily admitted that he tickled the penis of one of the boys but said that it was only for fun and play. He admitted that he is sexually attracted to children but described allegations of buggery and rape as ” disgusting and sick”. He said that he never did or never could rape any child. During the case, Mr Baily said that he did not find a lot wrong with being in bed with a naked boy and tickling his penis. He also admitted that he did not tell the boys’ parents that he was attracted to children before he took them away on trips and holidays. He called one of his victims a “liar” and a “scumbag” and questioned why no allegation was made until a few years ago when he received a large amount of money from a land sale. He said that he offered his victims money because he “saw the way this thing was going”. He said that the reason they called to his house many years later was to get money. The two victims denied this and said they called to his house to tell him to stop writing letters to their parents.