Child rapist who failed to show up for sentencing to appear before court

A 54- year-old Cork man who failed to show up to court on Friday for his sentencing for the rape and sexual assault of an 11-year-old boy over a decade ago is to appear before the court on Monday.

Anthony Moynihan of Croccane, Rostellan, Midleton, Co Cork was sentenced in his absence to seven years in jail for the offences by Mr Justice Michael White at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Dublin on Friday.

Mr Justice White issued a warrant for Moynihan after defence counsel said his client took the train to Dublin to attend the hearing and was spotted in the vicinity of the court but was later seen heading back towards Heuston Station.

Moynihan was arrested on Saturday afternoon by gardaí in Blackrock on Cork's southside and brought to the Bridewell Garda station in the city centre where he was detained over the weekend.

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Mr Justice White indicated that he wanted Moynihan to be brought back to the Central Criminal Court at the first available opportunity. Moynihan left Cork at 6am on morning under Garda escort for the Criminal Courts of Justice.

At the sentencing hearing in Dublin on Friday, Mr Justice White condemned Moynihan’s “brutal” abuse inflicted on the victim, Dylan Higgins (23), who previously waived his right to anonymity so that Moynihan could be named.

Mr Justice White paid tribute to Mr Higgins for his "tremendous courage" in reporting the abuse and delivering a "very moving" victim impact statement in court in which he told how he had attempted suicide twice over the abuse.

Moynihan pleaded guilty at an earlier sitting of the Central Criminal Court to two charges of anal rape and two counts of sexually assaulting Mr Higgins at his home in Rostellan on dates between September 9th, 2006 and June 27th, 2008.

The court heard that Mr Higgins, who was aged 11 and 12 at the time, called three times to Moynihan’s home because he knew the man would give him cigarettes.

Moynihan has three previous convictions for sexually assaulting two young girls in 2008 and 2009 for which he received a suspended sentence. The girls had gone to Moynihan’s home together on the understanding he would give them cigarettes.

Mr Justice White said Moynihan’s guilty plea was very important as he had made full admissions to gardaí early on. Another mitigating factor was that Moynihan was suffering from throat cancer as he imposed the seven year jail term.