Taxi driver jailed for 13 years for raping child – judge says he ‘doesn’t care’ about impact on her – The Irish Times

A Dublin taxi driver who caused “deep and lasting harm” to a girl aged seven or eight by raping her twice has been sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison.

Judge Kerida Naidoo said the fact that Raymond Shorten raped the girl days after her mother’s death showed that he was “completely lacking in compassion” and “completely indifferent” to the injuries, violence and long-term consequences of his actions on her.

Shorten (50), of Melrose Crescent, Dublin 22, faces further sentencing by another judge on Thursday for raping two young women in his taxi on separate days in the summer of 2022.

Geraldine Small SC, representing the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), had stated that prison sentences of between 10 and 15 years would be appropriate for all three victims.

On Monday, Justice Naidoo imposed an effective sentence of 13 years’ imprisonment on Shorten at the Central Criminal Court after he was found guilty in May of two counts of vaginal rape and one count of sexual abuse of a child on dates dating back more than 10 years. The sentence was backdated to August 2022, as Shorten has been in custody since then.

As the woman, now 20, listened, the judge said Shorten had committed “very serious” offences involving a vulnerable child. The offence involved a breach of trust by Shorten, who was then aged 37 or 38 and was known to the girl’s family.

The fact that there were multiple crimes and that they were committed in places where the child should have felt safe was another aggravating circumstance, the judge said, adding that there were “very few mitigating circumstances overall”.

He concluded that the offences were at the upper end of the relevant category and that 14 years for the rapes and four years for the sexual assault were appropriate sentences. He reduced the sentence by one year, making the effective sentence 13 years.

Shorten’s other rape convictions last month came after his conviction in May for the offences against the child and played no role in sentencing, the judge said. It was for his colleague, Justice Paul McDermott, to decide whether issues of rehabilitation and post-release parole would be taken into account in determining the other sentences, he said.

As for the girl, the first rape occurred more than ten years ago in the girl’s home, just days after her mother’s death. Shorten laid her on the bathroom floor and raped her. The second rape occurred in a family member’s bedroom when the girl was alone with Shorten. A third offense, sexual assault, occurred in his vehicle.

A Garda investigation began in 2021 after the girl left a handwritten note about Shorten’s actions on her grandmother’s pillow in late 2020. When charges were brought, he denied the allegations.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said her mother died when she was seven and Shorten’s abuse began immediately afterward. She said she never really liked Shorten and he always made her “creepy.” The abuse hit her hard in many ways, she said.

After the rapes, she experienced strong emotional outbursts such as screaming, yelling and hitting walls.

“I just wanted to let out my anger,” she said.

The woman said she later turned to substances to escape the pain, began self-harming, experienced panic attacks, had suicidal thoughts and made several suicide attempts. She learned in sex education classes as a teenager how great the impact of the abuse had been on her.

She was protected by her grandmother, but should also have been protected by Shorten. “He shouldn’t have mistreated me.”

Lorcan Staines, Shorten’s legal counsel, said his client was a father of seven children, had worked all his life and had lost his marriage and relationship, and that Shorten was not taking responsibility for the crimes for which he was convicted.

Shorten was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last month of the rape and anal rape of a 19-year-old woman on June 26, 2022, and the rape of a second woman, then 20, on August 9, 2022. He denied the charges.

The prosecution assumed that both women ended up in a taxi after a sociable night in Dublin city centre and were raped by the driver, Shorten.

In a victim impact statement, the 20-year-old woman said she took a taxi home “for safety reasons” but experienced a “nightmare” and continues to suffer anxiety and trust issues. The second woman said she was 19 and a virgin when Shorten raped her.

“I still don’t know what to say: It’s shocking that this even happened, that such an offender not only caught me but also raped another person.”

The prosecutor explained to Judge McDermott that a maximum prison sentence of 10 to 15 years was appropriate in both cases.