Woman raped by stepfather waives her anonymity

A woman who was raped by her stepfather on her 15th birthday has waived her anonymity so his name can be used.

Anthony Byrne, 55, was found guilty of two counts of raping his stepdaughter Kim Jordan in 2002 in a trial at the Central Criminal Court in May.

Ms Jordan, 36, waived her anonymity so that Byrne’s name could be mentioned.

In her victim impact statement, which Ms Jordan read to the court, she said Byrne blamed her for his actions during the trial.

“I felt humiliated and ashamed because you portrayed me as some kind of teenage sexual seductress,” she said.

Byrne, of Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot in Dublin 10, had come into her life when she was very young and the court heard that the relationship was of great importance to her as the two had been very close since childhood.

“After spending my early years wondering why my biological father wasn’t there and why my family was broken, when Tony came into my life and I finally had a father, I felt like my prayers had been answered and I finally had the family I had longed for,” she said.

“I didn’t know he was planning to use me for his sick sexual pleasures and ruin my life,” she added.

The court heard the offence was committed while Ms Jordan was in Spain on her 15th birthday in 2002 and at her family home a few months later.

Ms Jordan lodged a complaint with the Gardaí in 2018 and described what had happened.

While on holiday with her family in Spain, she decided to return to the apartment and take a shower before dinner.

He drank a beer and while they were playing cards, he asked her if they could play strip poker.

He asked if he could enter the bathroom to use the toilet.

Then he dropped his shorts and insisted on washing them with a sponge and then drying them.

She said she was embarrassed and was crying and sobbing. She had spread clothes on the bed and then he said he would dry her off.

He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back onto the bed. Then he raped her.

She said she became completely absent and numb and wished she were dead.

She still remembers the woodchip wallpaper as she turned away while he raped her.

She was afraid of becoming pregnant.

In the second rape case for which he was convicted, Byrne came in a few months after the girl returned from Mallorca and removed her trousers and underwear.

He tried to penetrate her but had no erection.

Defence lawyer John Byrne SC said his client never denied having sexual contact with the girl but denied any allegations of rape.

“Mr. Byrne must respect the jury’s verdict but does not accept it,” the lawyer told the court.

Judge Mary Ellen Ring said she noted that Byrne had said he was having “an affair with his teenage stepdaughter.”

Judge Ring said she would not be able to impose sentence on Byrne until July 31 next year due to late filing of documents.

The judge also referred to recent changes to the Sexual Offences and Trafficking Act, which require persons convicted of a sexual offense to provide a certificate of good character in the form of an oath or affidavit at the criminal trial.

However, the defense attorney objected and Judge Ring agreed that the new law, which took effect last week, only applies to those convicted after the law was passed.