CONVICTED CHILD rapist and gangland criminal Stephen “Rossi” Walsh has been jailed for 10 years for the sexual assault and defilement of a child.
Walsh (64), formerly of Belgrave Road, Rathgar, and also Harold’s Cross Road, both south Dublin, is already serving 10 years for the rape and indecent assault of two girls aged nine and seven. The new sentence will start when his current term ends.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court had entered pleas of not guilty on behalf of Walsh to 14 counts of sexual assault and defilement of a child on dates between August 1st, 2008 and January 6th, 2009.
During the sentencing, the now 18-year-old victim broke down as she described the “appalling nature” of the crimes committed against her when she was aged 14 and 15. “I had to go through a very difficult cross-examination to get justice. The crimes he committed were appalling. No one else should have to go through that.”
After a 17-day trial, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on 11 counts; two of sexual assault and nine of defilement.
Judge Desmond Hogan said Walsh had acted in a “most conniving way” and had “wormed his way into the victim’s affections” for his “base sexual gratification”.
Walsh, who represented himself after sacking his legal team, indicated he intends to appeal.
During the trial the victim said she was first introduced to Walsh, a friend of her father’s, when she was in sixth class.
He became a regular visitor to her home and in July 2008, when she was 14, he moved in permanently. Within a month he tried to rape her, and just weeks later he succeeded in doing so.
Judge Hogan imposed a sentence of 12 years each on three counts of defilement.
He suspended two years on each of these and ordered that all sentences should be served on termination of the rape sentence imposed in February 2010, which is due to expire in 2019.
He will be almost 80 years of age when released from prison.
Walsh was convicted twice for armed robbery in the 1970s, and was convicted of larceny and assault. He also ran protection rackets in the 1980s.
In September 1992 he was almost killed when an arson attempt on a pub in Ballybough, Dublin, went wrong and the building exploded while he was inside. He claimed he could not recall what happened. He said he could have been kidnapped and beaten and then put on the premises as part of a “set-up”.
Walsh, a married father of three, was sentenced to 15 years for the arson attack.
In February 1993 a judge claimed he was running a “dial-a-witness” scheme. Walsh was advising people how to set up false personal injuries claims and putting them in touch with people who would act as witness.
He was a regular feature hanging around the courts in Dublin, advising fellow criminals on their cases and people involved in personal injury cases.
In 2000, while in prison, he took a case to the Supreme Court and won voting rights for inmates. The State appealed and won.
In 2005, when he should have been serving a 12-month sentence for assaulting a prison officer, he challenged the legitimacy of the warrant used to detain him. He won the case and walked free.