A CONVICTED criminal and “social deviant”, who raped his aunt in her Cork home after threatening to kill her, has been jailed for 15 years at the Central Criminal Court.
Colm Kelly (32), originally from Ballybrack, Co Dublin, now of Came Point, Castletownbere, Co Cork, had pleaded not guilty to rape, oral rape, two charges of sexual assault and one of false imprisonment on August 25th, 2010.
A jury found him guilty on all counts after 2½ hours following his trial earlier this month.
His aunt (55) waived her right to anonymity so her nephew could be named. In her victim impact statement, she asked that Kelly be banned from Co Cork following his release, as she was afraid he would “come back and get me”.
Following the sentence hearing, she simply commented that justice had been done. She described Kelly as an “evil monster” who should be “locked up and the key thrown away”.
Her life had been a living hell since the ordeal, as she suffered nightly flashbacks and panic attacks and could not spend a night in her house on her own. The mother of two said nobody would ever understand the shame she felt as her family sat in court and listened to what she had gone through.
Mr Justice Paul Carney described the way in which Kelly ran his defence as “the most despicable and dishonourable I have seen in my 20 years in this court”.
He said Kelly had claimed his aunt had been “the sexual predator” and instigated the encounter.
Mr Justice Carney said the jury had decisively rejected that claim and returned “a rapid verdict”. He said the inherent gravity of the offence, the effect on the victim, the breach of trust, the use of a knife and the conduct of his defence warranted a 15-year sentence.
Reports handed into court described Kelly as a “social deviant”, saying he was at high risk of reoffending, unless he underwent continued drug treatment and therapy.