Former prison governor jailed for indecent assault
A former prison governor who indecently assaulted a young girl over a seven-year period has been jailed for three years by Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Pat Carolan (aged 73), a father of four, of Kinvara Road, Cabra, who was a governor of the Mountjoy Prison Training Unit and St Patrick's Institution, pleaded guilty to 28 charges of indecently assaulting her from when she was aged about five until she was about 13.
The offences occurred on dates unknown between June 1982 and June 1989. Judge Hogan suspended the final two years of the sentence and said he accepted a sum of €20,000 handed over by Carolan to his victim as a sign of his contrition.
Ms Pauline Walley BL, prosecuting, told Judge Hogan the now 27-year-old victim wanted Carolan named in media reports of the case.
Detective Garda Andy Tuite told Ms Walley that the first incident occurred when the victim was playing with one of the accused's children in the garage of his house.
When Carolan's son went into the house, Carolan came into the garage, put his arm in front of her and put his hand down on her vagina. She jumped and he asked if it hurt and when the victim said "No", Carolan put his finger inside her vagina.
The victim said that Carolan exclaimed: "Oh Jesus! We would be in terrible trouble if anyone found out what we were doing," and told her that if her family were told what happened then her father would go to jail.
Gda Tuite said this abuse continued at least once a week every weekend from the time the victim was aged five until she was aged seven. The victim couldn't say how many times it occurred but thought it must have been hundreds of times.
From the age of eight to 13 the victim said the abuse would occur at around tea time. At one time when she was aged eight or nine the same thing happened except that Carolan would push her trousers down around her ankles.
On another occasion he took his penis out and asked her to touch it. He took her hand and put it on his penis and masturbated himself. He asked her to touch him again a few weeks later but she refused to do so.
Gda Tuite told Ms Walley that on another occasion when the victim was leaving to go to school and was nearly running late, Carolan met her and offered her a lift. She refused the lift but her mother, who was not aware of the abuse, insisted that she go with him.
Carolan put his hand up her skirt as they were driving up the lane towards her school and she put her school bag on her lap to stop him.
Gda Tuite said that when the victim's father died, she decided the person she was protecting was no longer there. She told her mother about the assaults before reporting the incident to gardaí in 2000.
The victim told the court she had lived in close proximity to Carolan and spent a lot of her time trying to avoid him at all costs. It seemed to her he spent every moment of the day in his garden and that he attempted to engage her in conversation in front of the neighbours which she found "very distressing".
She said that a year after reporting the abuse she had felt suicidal and couldn't function or do anything without crying.
She said: "I can't even remember how bad it was, it was that bad," and added "I wouldn't credit anyone with ruining my life but he has damaged it."
Mr Breffni Gordon BL, defending, said that Carolan had provided unblemished service to the prison system where he worked for 37 years and would be "ostracised from a society that might once have respected him."
Mr Gordon added that Carolan would find it impossible to serve a prison sentence.
Judge Hogan said that he took several mitigating factors into account including Carolan's guilty plea and his expression of remorse.
However, he said the series of offences were carried out over an extended period on a victim who was young, vulnerable and trusting.
Judge Hogan said Carolan was in a job whereby he should have known the consequences of his actions. From his reading of the Probation and Welfare Report he wondered if Carolan realised the full import of the consequences of his actions.
Suspending the final two years of the three-year sentence, Judge Hogan said that he would have imposed a longer sentence had Carolan been a younger man.
