Child molester Declan Hannon back on the streets and living next to his nursery in Gorey, Co Wexford

The paedophile was released from Midlands Prison earlier this month after serving a five-year sentence for repeatedly raping a nine-year-old girl.

Although he has kept a low profile since his release, we tracked Hannon down last Wednesday evening at a house in Gorey, Co Wexford, in a housing estate full of young families.

When we confronted the beast and asked if it still posed a danger to children, it refused to talk.

Instead, he slammed the front door in our reporter’s face.

When told about Hannon’s proximity to a daycare center, Aisling Vickers, the sex offender’s victim, said she was disturbed by the development.

She also called for further reform of sex offender legislation that would make it mandatory to inform parents if a sex offender lives in their area.

“I think it is important that his whereabouts and his face are known to the people who live in the area where he is,” she told the Sunday World.

“The public does not have direct access to such information and that is why I spoke to him.

“The public doesn’t have access to a sex offender registry that anyone can look at, and that was my real motivation in all of this.

“My concern was that when people google his name, it will appear alongside the crimes he committed.

“It will all be there in black and white.”

When asked if she thought Hannon still posed a danger to children, Vicki replied, “Yes, potentially, 100 percent!”

“He never showed any remorse.

“The fact that he subjected me to legal proceedings shows that.

“That’s what I said in my victim impact statement.

“He chose the path of deception and lost.

“He could have spared me the torture of a trial and admitted his guilt, but he didn’t.

“It shows what kind of person he is… he didn’t bat an eyelid the whole time.”

“This does not bode well for his potential to re-offend.

“I know people say whoever commits a crime serves his sentence.

“But that’s not how life works.

“My whole motivation is to protect children, and when parents know that, they know to keep their children away from someone like him.

“You don’t have to do anything with this knowledge, but we must protect our children and all women from these predators at all costs.”

Vile Hannon raped Aisling, then a nine-year-old girl, for the first time at the age of 17 during a game of hide-and-seek.

In the summer of 1987 or 1989, he raped her three more times.

A local sergeant told the court that Hannon, the victim and other children were playing hide and seek when Hannon persuaded them to go into a shed where he raped them.

He told her not to tell anyone, it was her secret.

Aisling recalled another incident about two weeks later when she was again playing with other children and Hannon took her into his bedroom and raped her.

She recalled two other incidents that summer in which he took her to a wasteland with the promise of money for candy and raped her. Another rape occurred in a trailer.

Aisling said she couldn’t tell anyone at first because she was scared of what might happen and didn’t say anything for years.

Her mother became aware of the incident and notified the Gardai and the HSE. However, for various reasons, her mother did not want the case to be pursued further at that time.

In an interview with the health authority, Hannon denied the allegations.

In 2013, Aisling was approached by police and asked if she was now able to make a statement. She decided to do so.

Hannon was arrested, but his interrogation was unsuccessful.

Aisling first testified in court in May 2016, but the jury was dismissed because no witnesses were available.

In a second trial, in which Aisling testified twice, the jury was also dismissed due to document deficiencies.

Another trial took place in March 2019, but the jury was again dismissed.

A second jury was convened and the trial concluded with a conviction.

Aisling had testified publicly and in legal pleadings in these trials.

Hannon also testified at the final trial and denied all allegations.

John Fitzgerald, SC, defending Hannon, said the offences took place when Hannon himself was a child and he had led a good and normal life since then.

He said Hannon had been working the entire time, most recently as a laborer and tree surgeon.

He asked the court to take into account the delay in the proceedings, which was not caused by his client.

He said the perpetrator was a completely different person than the man now on trial.

Mr Fitzgerald also asked the court to consider the impact a custodial sentence for Hannon would have on his son, who has special needs.

In his verdict, Judge Michael White said Hannon had committed the brutal and cynical rape of an innocent child.

He set a minimum sentence of eleven years, but reduced it to seven years after taking into account a number of mitigating circumstances, of which Hannon had to spend five years in prison.

At the end of the sentencing hearing, the Attorney General’s lawyers asked the judge to impose reporting restrictions on identifying Aisling or Hannon, and the judge agreed.

Aisling was present in court at the time, but was not asked and only learned of the reporting restrictions imposed days later.

It was not until 18 months after his conviction that Aisling was able to publicly mention Hannon’s name.

But even then, the media was prohibited from publishing Aisling’s name due to a ruling related to the Identification of Minor Victims of Crime Act.

This began a “lengthy and arduous” legal battle over Aisling’s right to identify herself.

One of the main reasons for her fight to give up her right to anonymity was that she knew the day of Hannon’s final release was coming, Aisling says.

“All I want now is for people to know he’s out there, to know what he looks like, and to keep their children safe,” she said.