Gerard Lawless: The Ballyfermot father who “groomed” his adopted daughter before orally raping her is in prison

Gerard Lawless, 61, pleaded guilty to four counts of oral rape and seven counts of sexual assault at the family’s then home in Dublin between 1991 and 1998.

Danielle Lawless waived her right to anonymity to allow her father, of Elmdale Crescent, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, to be named.

In a powerful victim impact statement, Ms Lawless said her father was not only the perpetrator of these “despicable acts” but someone who should have protected and cared for her.

She said he “took advantage of my innocence and trust in the most despicable way.”

Ms Lawless said her father had “manipulated my understanding of love and affection” and she explained how this had affected her ability to trust others and her own decisions.

She said she experienced feelings of shame, guilt and worthlessness and then spoke of her “unwavering determination” to protect her own children from the “horrors I had to endure”.

The Central Criminal Court heard the first incident of sexual assault occurred when Ms Lawless was around five years old and had gone into her parents’ room to play and cuddle.

The crime did not continue during this period.

The court was told that most of the sexual assault and oral rape charges were sample charges and mainly related to a 17-month period between October 1995 and April 1997, when the victim was about ten years old.

The last two incidents of sexual assault occurred at an unknown date between November 1997 and August 1998, when Ms. Lawless was about 12 years old at the time.

Lawless was due to stand trial in December last year, but the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted a plea deal.

He joined the armed forces in 1980 and served abroad, including in Lebanon. The court heard he retired for medical reasons in 2013 and is in poor health. Lawless has no criminal record and has been in custody since entering his plea last December.

After hearing the facts on Thursday, Judge Paul McDermott adjourned the case overnight to consider the sentence.

Yesterday he sentenced Lawless to a global prison sentence of 10 years and ordered him to undergo three years of supervision after his release and not to have direct or indirect contact with the victim.

Mr Justice McDermott said the sexual abuse continued and escalated throughout the victim’s childhood and that the fact that there was a “break” in the abuse “did no real detraction from its horrific nature or the fact that it dominated her childhood”.

He highlighted the serious and long-lasting effects of the abuse, as set out in the victim impact statement, and said Ms Lawless was “actually raised from a young age, she was actually drawn into his world of sick games and ended up.” thus “confused feelings throughout her childhood”.

Mr Justice McDermott said the guilt and shame was “not hers”.

“It’s just at Lawless’s door and there it stays.”

He said it was aggravating that “paternal trust” had been breached and the abuse had taken place in the family home.

Mr Justice McDermott said he had taken into account the mitigating circumstances, including Lawless’s service in the defense forces, his poor health and the fact that it would make prison a more difficult experience for him.

He said the court was concerned that Lawless had a “very distorted view” of what happened in the probation report and that while regret was expressed, “there is no understanding of the serious harm caused to the victim”.

Mr Justice McDermott said a period of post-release supervision was appropriate as Lawless had “not really addressed his offending” and that he should be assessed for any relevant treatment programmes.

An investigating officer told prosecutor Gerard Clarke SC that Lawless was the victim’s adoptive father, having married her mother when she was very young.

She explained that the abuse included inappropriate touching, masturbation and oral sex. With the exception of the first incident, all of the abuse occurred while the victim’s mother was at work.

The abuse ended when the victim was 12 years old.

Her father told her that what they were doing was wrong and it should remain secret.

Ms Lawless told her mother about the abuse in 2018 before making a complaint to Gardai.

The court heard her mother and Lawless separated in 2013.

Lawless was interviewed by Gardai on a voluntary basis in 2019 and made some confessions.

However, he told gardai that the abuse took place over a period of several days when the victim was ten years old.

Investigating Garda Catherine Noctor SC, defending, said there was only one conversation in which Lawless told his victim to keep the abuse secret and that this took place after the crime had ended.

She accepted that Lawless made partial admissions during the interview, but noted that he did not admit the actual time frame of the offense and Gardai felt he had engaged in “a degree of trivialization”.

In addition, it was agreed that Lawless said he could not remember some details during the interview, but accepted he had an inappropriate relationship with the victim and apologized.

The witness also agreed that although Lawless did not make his admission of guilt too early, it was announced before the trial began and meant the victim did not have to testify.

The court heard Lawless told a probation officer that there was “no malice” in his actions towards the victim and that he “never forced” her to engage in sexual activity.

He said: “I loved her, I know it was wrong” and continued: “I loved her, she gave me the love back.”

He added: “I loved her as my daughter, I don’t mean in a sexual way.”

Ms Noctor said her instructions were that Lawless had “made a mistake” when he told the probation officer the abuse had only taken place over a short period of time. She was told that when Lawless spoke of love in that conversation, he meant he “loved the victim like a daughter.”

She said her client fully accepted his guilt for this offense and had been found to have a low to moderate risk of re-offending.

Ms Noctor told the court her client had numerous health problems and was now a wheelchair user.

A number of reports and witness statements were presented to the court. Lawless retains the support of some of his siblings.

Ms Noctor asked the court to consider her client’s history of early childhood adversity, his admission of guilt and his expressions of remorse.

Lawless no longer worked after leaving for health reasons, but did voluntary work, including for St Patrick’s Athletic, the court heard.