July 2012 Abuse victims speak of their relief after ‘getting justice’ TWO SISTERS who suffered abuse at the hands of three brothers, from a different family, spoke out about their years of torment after finally getting justice this week. The women, who were just six years old when the abuse started in the 1970s, spoke about their sheer relief after 40 years of pain and cruelty at the hands of the men. The women say that this is just the first hurdle and they are now concentrating on taking a civil case against a fourth person whom the DPP decided not to prosecute. On Wednesday 58-year-old quarry worker John Sheehan from Raheendoran was sentenced to eight years in jail with three years suspended after pleading guilty to sample charges of indecent assault on the two girls between 1970 and 1980. 55-year-old HSE worker Christopher Sheehan of Kyleshall and 51-year-old Thomas Sheehan of Castlehill, Coon West, Castlecomer, Kilkenny, were both sentenced to eight years in jail with four suspended after they both pleaded guilty to sample charges of indecent assault on the two girls between 1970 and 1980. The girls spoke about how difficult it was to see the men out and about on a regular basis. ‘They were highly thought of in the area. To meet them you would never ever expect them to be able to carry out such violent acts,’ said one of the girls. ‘No one knows a paedophile like their victims. We were in the gutters and when they met us out and about it was as if they had done nothing wrong. Up until five or six months ago John would still wave at us. ‘I met Christy a few times coming up to the case and he would just turn his head. ‘When they were brought in for questioning people still couldn’t believe it was true and it was just speculation until now. People can now see them for what they are.’ Growing up the brothers were friendly with the girls older siblings and they built up a trust with their family. They didn’t smoke, drink or gamble and were involved in the local football club. They were in the Order of Malta and involved in the Wheelchair Association. One of the girl’s abuse stopped when she was nine but her sister’s abuse continued in to her teenage years. ‘I don’t even know a quarter of what happened to my sister,’ said one of the girls. ‘At night when she was asleep in bed Christy would knock on the window to get in to abuse her. ‘One night she hid under our parents bed to get away from him and another night she broke the cistern in the bathroom trying to get out the window to get away from him.’ ‘At one point all three brothers were abusing her. They would sneak in to her bedroom, lock her in the kitchen or trap her in their cars. She wasn’t even safe in her own home.’ ‘My sister and I have been to hell and back, the hurt and suffering that we have gone through. We were at rock bottom and this was the only thing that we grasped on to. We hoped that some day we would be able to do this.’ ‘We still have a long road ahead of us but this is a great result and we are delighted. In court things can go anyway,’ she added.