Taxi driver to be sentenced next week for rape of child

This article contains references to rape and sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

By Eimear Dodd

A Dublin taxi driver is to be sentenced next week for the rape and sexual abuse of a seven-year-old girl over a decade ago.

Raymond Shorten (50) of Melrose Crescent, Clondalkin was convicted in May of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault in 2012 of the young girl.

The now 20-year-old woman indicated she wished for Shorten to be named, but to retain her anonymity.

Shorten had been due to be sentenced on Friday, by the trial judge Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo at the Central Criminal Court.

Adjourning the case to Monday July 22, Mr Justice Paul McDermott told counsel that Mr Justice Naidoo is unavailable as he is presiding over a trial in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

Shorten was also convicted in June of two counts of rape and one of anal rape in relation to two other young women who separately found themselves in a taxi after a night out socialising in Dublin during the summer of 2022, where they were raped by the driver, Shorten.

He is also due to be sentenced in relation to these offences next Monday, with Mr Justice McDermott previously indicating he will impose sentence after Mr Justice Naidoo has finalised sentence in relation to the offences involving the young girl.

Shorten has been in custody since August 2022.