Cavan swimming coach convicted of rape and sexual assault

Derry O’Rourke, a former Irish Olympic swimming coach residing in Virginia Road, Cavan, was found guilty of raping a young girl sometime between October 1989 and June 1990.

The 78-year-old has already been convicted several times for the abuse of schoolgirls.

In 1998, Derry O’Rourke was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing young girls between 1976 and 1992. Seven years later, he received a concurrent 10-year sentence for repeatedly abusing another young swimmer he had coached in the 1970s.

He was released from prison in 2007 and earlier this month he stood trial for abusing another young girl, again in his role as a swim coach. She was between 13 and 14 years old at the time.

O’Rourke denied the allegations and claimed he had no memory of training her, but after five and a half hours of deliberation, all 12 jurors found him guilty of rape and also convicted him of 11 counts of indecent assault. The survivor, who wishes to remain anonymous, will present a victim impact statement to the court at sentencing later this month.