Taxi driver Raymond Shorten jailed for raping girl following her mother’s funeral

A Dublin taxi driver has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for the rape and sexual abuse of a seven-year-old girl over a decade ago.

Raymond Shorten (50), of Melrose Crescent, Clondalkin, was found guilty in May of two counts of rape and sexual assault of a young girl in 2012.

The woman, now 20, has indicated that she would like to mention Shorten’s name but maintain her anonymity.

On Monday, Judge Kerida Naidoo said the aggravating circumstances included the seriousness of the offence, the age and vulnerability of the victim and the impact the offence had on her.

He pointed out that Shorten first raped the victim following her mother’s funeral, when she must have been “extremely vulnerable” due to her recent loss.

The judge said this showed a lack of “any compassion for the child”. He said Shorten “could not have cared less” about the long-term pain and suffering this would have caused the girl.

Judge Naidoo said the victim statement described the “deep and lasting damage” caused to the injured party.

Judge Naidoo imposed a maximum sentence of 14 years for the rape charges, saying there was “very little that could mitigate his offending”. However, he took into account Shorten’s personal circumstances and the available mitigation options and therefore reduced the sentence by one year to 13 years.

He dated it retroactively to August 22, 2022, when Shorten was taken into custody.

Justice Naidoo noted that Shorten is to be sentenced for other offences and that they have “no bearing on this case”. He said the issue of post-release supervision and rehabilitation could not be considered until the other sentence had been determined.

Shorten was also found guilty in June of two counts of rape and one count of anal rape in connection with two other young women who independently found themselves in a taxi after a social night in Dublin in the summer of 2022.

Handwritten note

The trial judge, Justice Paul McDermott, had previously stated that he would impose sentence after Justice Naidoo had finalised the sentence in relation to the offences against the young girl.

Shorten has been in custody since August 2022.

The court had previously heard that the young girl’s sexual abuse came to light after she left a handwritten note on her grandmother’s pillow in 2020.

An investigating Garda officer told the court that Shorten, then 37, was known to the girl’s family.

He raped the girl for the first time in a bathroom at her parents’ home in the days following her mother’s funeral. She was seven or eight years old when the second rape took place. Shorten later abused her in a car by inappropriately touching her leg.

Shorten denied any wrongdoing when questioned by police and in his statements during the trial. He took no responsibility for the crimes, lead defence lawyer Lorcan Staines told the court at the previous sentencing.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Gerardine Small SC, the woman said she had been “massively exploited” by Shorten, whom she never liked.

She said, “He always scared me” and she didn’t want to be near him. She said she was scared and didn’t understand what was happening.

She said she only realised what Shorten had done to her was wrong at age 14, when she took sex education classes at school.

She said when Shorten was convicted, she felt like she had “finally found the beginning of the end”.

She added that Shorten “should have protected me, not abused me.”

At the previous hearing, Mr Staines had asked the court to date any possible sentence backdated to August 2022, when his client was taken into custody.

He said Shorten had a long professional career and hoped to rebuild his relationship with his seven children in the future.

Shorten has worked in the prison laundry during his incarceration and is subject to stricter prisoner regulations.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national Rape Crisis Helpline 24 hours a day on 1800-77 8888, access the SMS service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.