Derry O’Rourke guilty of raping and sexually abusing a teenager 35 years ago – The Irish Times

Former Irish swimming coach Derry O’Rourke was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting a teenager 35 years ago.

Derry O’Rourke (78) of Virgina Road, Cavan, had pleaded not guilty before the Central Criminal Court. He had pleaded guilty to one count of rape and 15 counts of indecent assault at school between October 1989 and June 1990. The complainant was aged between 13 and 14 at the time.

During the trial, the jury was instructed by the presiding judge to acquit O’Rourke of four of these charges. The jury now had to consider one count of rape and eleven counts of sexual assault.

The jury announced its verdict after five hours and 27 minutes of deliberation on the fifth day of the trial.

Judge Melanie Greally remanded O’Rourke in custody and sentencing is due on July 30.

Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC told the court that his client was suffering from ill health and had recently been in hospital, but he saw no reason to delay sentencing.

O’Rourke did not respond to the announcement of the twelve guilty verdicts.

O’Rourke is a convicted rapist. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in January 1998 after pleading guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 29 offences involving 11 girls between 1976 and 1992. The charges included defilement, sexual assault and indecent touching.

In August 2000, O’Rourke was sentenced to four years in prison on 19 counts involving six girls. The sexual assaults and sexual battery occurred on unknown dates between July 1970 and December 1992. One of the offenses involved oral sex. The girls were between the ages of 10 and 19 and were all trained by him.

O’Rourke was sentenced to ten years in prison in January 2005 after pleading guilty to two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault between 1975 and 1978. This sentence was retroactively dated to March 13, 2000.

Addressing the jury, Judge Greally said: “I realise this was a difficult case and you gave 100 per cent. That was evident in the questions you asked. I sincerely thank you and hope that this experience was of value to you.”

Judge Greally relieved the jury of its duties for the next five years. She ordered the preparation of a victim impact statement for the verdict.

At the start of the trial, the victim, now 48, told prosecutor Patricia McLoughlin SC that O’Rourke had been her sports coach when she was at secondary school. The woman described how she was “thrilled that someone had noticed her”.

The complaint referred to an age of about 13 and she described herself as weighing about “25 to 35 kilos, I was stunted, my bra was not even a size 70 AA, I was very thin, had short hair and looked like a child.”

The jury heard that the plaintiff trained almost daily, and O’Rourke suggested he conduct “muscle checks” to help her progress.

The woman said she was taken to a room and O’Rourke stood behind her and instructed her to raise her hands above her head. She then described how he “put one hand on her right breast and the other on her left breast and moved his hands up and down.” She estimated this lasted about five minutes.

During the “muscle check,” O’Rourke told the plaintiff that she was “a good girl” and said that she “needed to work harder.”

When asked if she had told anyone about this alleged ongoing behavior, she said, “No, because I thought it was legitimate.”

The plaintiff told the prosecutor, Ms McLaughlin, that the “muscle tests” continued and that O’Rourke began touching her breast and told her he needed to do further tests. She then said he digitally penetrated her.

Ms McLaughlin asked the woman if O’Rourke said anything to her during this, to which she replied that he responded, “Good girl,” “Just be quiet,” and “We just need to get this over with.”

The woman said she had no contact with O’Rourke during summer vacation this year, but began training again in September. At one point, when she resumed training, the trainer took her to the same room where the alleged sexual assault took place and allegedly raped her.

The jury heard that after this incident, the girl did not tell her parents but told them she would no longer take part in the sport. She described being “in a state of shock” and feeling “terrible” and “hurt” and said that “trust had been broken”.

Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC told the woman under cross-examination that his client could not remember her being at school or playing on the team.

The woman did not accept this.

The lawyer further stated that the room in which the rape took place was so small that there was not enough space for even one person to lie down, let alone two; the plaintiff did not accept this.