Former Irish swimming coach Derry O’Rourke is guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a teenager 35 years ago

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 in Cavan, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of rape and 15 counts of indecent assault in a school between October 1989 and June 1990.

The complainant was between 13 and 14 years old at the time.

During the trial, the jury was instructed by the 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.

On the fifth day of the trial, the jury reached its verdict after deliberating for five hours and twenty-seven minutes.

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

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

O’Rourke did not react when the twelve guilty verdicts were announced.

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 were rape, sexual assault and indecent touching.

In August 2000, O’Rourke was sentenced to four years in prison on 19 charges involving six girls.

The indecent sexual assaults occurred on unknown dates between July 1970 and December 1992.

One of the offenses involved oral sex. The girls were between 10 and 19 years old and were all trained by him.

Previous beliefs

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.