A Wexford man who sexually abused four children, including encouraging two of them to have sex and then videotaping it, has been jailed for 11 years.
Tony Hudson (61), of Ballymurray, the Ballagh, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, was found guilty by a Central Criminal Court jury in October of 70 charges of oral rape, sexual assault, buggery, gross indecency, and defilement against four children at an address in Dublin between 2000 and 2009.
The four children were aged between 12 and 17 at the time of the offending.
Imposing sentence yesterday, Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said the case illustrated the “devastating impact this kind of sexual abuse has on so many generations – the generation above and the generation to come.”
She said, “The breach of trust here is egregious” and that there was “a determined corruption of these young people.”
The judge said aggravating factors in the case included the “huge” disparity in age, the breach of trust, that Hudson took advantage of the children's vulnerability and the creation of a sexual environment in his house.
Ms Justice Lankford said the mitigating factors were that Hudson has no previous history of sexual offending, a good work history, and that he did not come to subsequent adverse Garda attention since the incidents.
Judge Lankford sentenced Hudson to 13 years in prison, with the final two years suspended.
She backdated this to when Hudson went into custody on October 27th of this year.
The judge said the complainants “have shown huge bravery” and that they “deserve huge respect for coming forward when they did.”
A local Garda told Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, that while Hudson was living in Dublin, he befriended four local children.
At various stages, they were invited to his house to do chores.
They were paid a modest amount of money, and Hudson gave them cigarettes and alcohol for the work they did.
Over time, Hudson began touching the children sexually and doing other inappropriate things.
The court heard one complainant was sitting in the living room when Hudson put pornography on the television.
He then masturbated the child and asked the child to masturbate him.
On another occasion, Hudson gave the child alcohol and got him drunk.
He then brought the child to a shed in the backyard of his house and asked him to “suck his penis.”
Evidence was given that another complainant had to clean Hudson's shower naked and that he would come in and touch the victim's penis.
A third victim was between 12 and 13 when the abuse started.
It started with mutual masturbation before progressing to oral sex and anal penetration.
Hudson recorded himself having anal sex with this child and showed the video to another one of the complainants.
The fourth victim gave evidence that Hudson encouraged her to have sex with one of the other children.
She was 13 at the time, and the other child was 17.
Hudson videotaped the two having sex in his shed.
Hudson then made the girl perform sexual acts on him as “she owed him a favour” as he let her have sex with the other child.
These sexual acts included masturbation and oral sex.
When Hudson was interviewed by Gardaí, he denied the allegations and said: “As their fathers weren't around for them, I was a stand-in.”
Two of the four complainants read their victim impact statements to the court.
One said, “I am a survivor of sexual abuse and not a victim.”
“What happened to me at the hands of this evil person completely destroyed my life and my whole future,” he said, before telling the court he should have been out with friends but instead “was being groomed and abused.”
“I will go on to be a great dad and turn my life around and bring goodness into the world.”
The man said, “children will be much safer with this dirty, evil monster locked up for a long time.”
The second man said, “I should be jumping with joy after he was found guilty, but how can I knowing that I'm serving a life sentence from the damage he has caused me.”
He told the court, “This will never be something that will just be forgotten about”, and that the abuse made him “lock myself away for days and constantly have thoughts of suicide.”
“He has damaged me so so much. I will have these battles every day for the rest of my life.”
Ms Lacey read the two other statements on behalf of the remaining victims.
The third statement said, “It affects me to this day and always will,” the victim added that she had looked at the man “as a father figure.”
The woman said she was “terrified” to let her children go out on their own or be left with any man.
She also said, “The distrust of men will not allow me to have any healthy relationship with men in the future.”
In the final statement, Ms Lacey said on behalf of the final complaint, “I don't trust anybody around my kids. I'm always having nightmares. What does a killer look like? What does a pedo look like?”
“I don't even trust my own family or friends around my kids,” the man wrote.
“As a man, it's very embarrassing. My only escape was drugs,” he wrote, “I lost my family home, my kids, and the love of my life.”
Patrick Gageby SC, defending, said his client had no previous convictions and had never come to adverse Garda attention before these charges.
He said his client was cooperative during his interview and was “someone who is hardworking, providing for him and his wife.”
By David O'Sullivan
