Last month, Aimée Foley emerged from the Central Criminal Courts of Justice with a smile on her face.
The 21 year-old had been fighting to get her father’s prison sentence increased, after he had received just five years for raping and sexually abusing her as a child.
Following an appeal put forward by the DPP, Michael O’Donoghue of Colmanstown, Ballinasloe, Co Galway had his jail term almost doubled in October, meaning he will be in prison for the next nine years.
Speaking on this episode of The Women’s Podcast, Aimée says the original sentence handed down by Mr Justice David Keane was a devastating blow. “To sit in the courtroom and feel all of that was for nothing was soul-shattering.”
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“How can we let perpetrators off with just a slap on the wrist?” she asks.
Aimée explains how the sexual abuse began when she was 12 years-old and often took place during access visits to her father’s home. It lasted for five years.
“I was never a daughter in his eyes, I was always an object that he felt that he could do heinous things to and get away with,” she says.
The decision to waive her anonymity and speak up about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, was encouraged by a friend who told her, “It’s like being in a car crash and you end up in a wheelchair, you can either sit and struggle and contemplate why it happened to you, or you can go on and win the Paralympics.”
Taking the advice to heart, Aimée explains, “I had to win the Paralympics, I wasn’t going to stop otherwise.”
By speaking out, she hopes to help “anyone who has ever felt they were silenced before”.
You can listen back to the full episode in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please be warned that this episode does contain descriptions of serious sexual assault and might not be suitable for all listeners.
For further support please see https://www.rapecrisishelp.ie/
