Donegal man jailed for “squalid and obnoxious” abuse of three young girls

A Donegal father has been jailed for seven and a half years for sexually abusing three young girls in his daughter’s bed while they were on sleepovers at his house.
44 year old Martin McCurdy of Emmet Park, Castlefinn, Co Donegal had pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting the then 13 year olds on separate dates between February 2006 and January 2007 at his home.
The allegations came to light when one of the girls became distressed after seeing a photo of the accused and revealed to a friend what had happened to her. Later that day two of her friends also disclosed they had been abused.
Martin McCurdy’s sentencing hearing heard that all three of his victims suffered from extreme emotional distress following the abuse and one girl made a “serious attempt” at suicide, damaging her liver in the process.
The court heard the girls wished to waive their right to anonymity so McCurdy could be publicly named.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy called the offences “squalid” and “obnoxious” due to the young age of the victims – he also noted the man showed no signs of remorse.
He sentenced McCurdy to a total of seven and a half years in consecutive sentences and ordered he be added to the Sexual Offenders Register. He had reduced the sentence from ten years after taking into account McCurdy’ s work history and family support.