Man jailed for for “horrific” and repeated sexual abuse of sisters

This article contains references to sexual abuse that some readers may find distressing. Reader discretion is advised.

By Claire Henry and Isabel Hayes

A man who subjected two of his younger sisters to “horrific” and repeated sexual abuse in the 1970s has been jailed for four and a half years.

Bernard Brennan (67), formerly of Rathfarnham, Dublin, but most recently residing in the United States, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault in various locations within the State between 1972 and 1975. He has no previous convictions.

His sisters, Yvonne Crist and Paula Fay, waived their anonymity so Brennan could be named.

Passing sentence in the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the facts of the case were “appalling”.

He said that while the abuse Brennan pleaded guilty to fell under the historic term of ‘indecent assault’, today the abuse would constitute offences that have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

However, he noted the court was bound by law to the maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment and that Brennan was a juvenile when he committed the abuse.

Brennan pleaded guilty in advance of his trial date to four counts of indecent assault against Ms Crist and seven counts of indecent assault against Ms Fay. Ms Crist was aged 13, while Ms Fay was just seven years old when the abuse started.

Mr Justice McDermott said some of the abuse perpetrated against the sisters was “horrific to hear and to describe”. He said they gave “eloquent, moving statements” outlining the horrors they have experienced and the pain they have suffered as a result of the abuse.

He said the devastation the abuse caused was “unspeakable” and the penalties to be imposed were “by reason of history and nothing else”.

He set a headline sentence of 21 months for each count and reduced this to 15 months, taking mitigating factors into account. He imposed four concurrent sentences of 15 months on Brennan, amounting to five years’ imprisonment.

He reduced this to four and a half years and backdated it to when Brennan went into custody earlier this year.

At a previous hearing, Detective Garda Neil Fogarty told Patrick McCullough, BL, prosecuting, that in relation to Ms Fay, the abuse started when the then seven-year-old was called in to the house by Brennan – then aged 14 years old – and forced to take off her clothes in front of a group of local boys.

Brennan touched her inappropriately in front of these boys and from then on the abuse escalated, to include oral rape. He would wake her in the night to abuse her. The court heard he threatened Ms Fay that their family would be split up if she told anyone about the abuse.

Ms Crist was 13 and Brennan was aged 15 when he started abusing her. He would wake her in the night, sexually assault her and make her watch pornography. He digitally penetrated her and performed oral sex on her.

She was afraid to call out or tell her parents for fear of physical punishment, the court heard.

Brennan subjected both girls to abuse in front of and with a third party, the court heard.

A letter was found from Brennan to his father, dated 2012, in which he apologised to his parents for abusing his sisters, but stated that he had no memory of it.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Crist said it has been hard to trust anyone in her life except her sister.

“Incest has affected me, and I have had to bury it deep inside,” she said.

“You took my innocence, and I will never forget that,” she said. “I have become a strong person, and I have met these challenges head-to-head.”

“I forgave you, my brother, a long time ago, but I have had to hang onto the past until now. The truth has now been told, and you will now be known as a sexual predator for the rest of your life.”

“You have put us through hell,” she added. “May you never find peace again.”

Ms Fay also read her victim impact statement to the court, in which she said she was “silenced” in her childhood and felt “invisible, worthless and inferior”.

“Growing up as a child, I always felt incapable, insufficient and inadequate,” she said. “I should have felt safe in my childhood home.”

“I struggle with being alone because that’s when the thoughts of self-doubt come back.”

She said the legal process has been a long and arduous one, starting back in 2021. “I have felt so much freedom since, and so much weight lifted off my shoulders,” she said.

“I chose to survive. Today, I truly became a survivor. I now have justice.”

Det Gda Fogarty agreed with Miska Hanahoe BL, defending, that her client has no previous convictions in Ireland or any other jurisdiction.

The garda agreed with counsel that he immediately stated he would travel from the United States to Ireland and indicated that he would plead guilty.

Ms Hanahoe said her client offers an unreserved apology to both of the injured parties. She said Brennan has suffered profound guilt and shame throughout his life.

Counsel said he grew up in a violent home and that his only sexual education was from pornography, which he re-enacted.

She said her client has no memory of the abuse but does not dispute the evidence of his sisters. She said he has never tried to minimise his wrongdoing.

He asked the court to take into account that the Probation Services have placed him at low risk of reoffending, that he has cooperated fully with the gardaí, that he has shown remorse, and his age at the time of the offending.