‘You destroyed my life, for your own sick pleasure’

SPEAKING OUT Sophia Murphy speaks to the media as she left the Central Criminal Court last week after her father, John Murphy, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for regularly sexually assaulting her from the age of three. Sophia gave up the right to anonymity so her father would be named in public.  Pic: Collins Courts

Man jailed for 18 years for relentless abuse of daughter that began when she was three years old

Fiona Ferguson

A former member of the Irish Defence Forces has been jailed for 18 years for the ‘horrendous’ sexual abuse of his daughter throughout her childhood, from the age of three.
John Murphy (61), formerly of Nephin View Manor, Foxford, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the rape, indecent assault and sexual assault of his eldest daughter, Ms Sophia Murphy, at locations in Co Galway and Co Mayo, between 1988 and 2001.
He also pleaded guilty to a final incident of sexual assault of Ms Murphy in 2010.
Murphy is currently serving an eight-year sentence in Arbour Hill prison for sexual abuse involving Ms Murphy’s two younger sisters, imposed last February at Castlebar Circuit Court.
Ms Murphy, now aged 33, was aged between three and 15 years at the time of the majority of the offences. She has waived her right to anonymity so that her father can be named.
In her victim-impact statement, which she read to the court, Ms Murphy outlined that she wished to go public to encourage other people in her position to come forward.
“Abusers control, manipulate you and make you feel like you are the one with the problem. Stand tall, speak out and take back your life, you are not to blame. Silence protects the abuser and imprisons the victim. Take back your life; break the silence. You are not a victim for sharing your story, you are a survivor,” said Ms Murphy.
She addressed her father during her statement: “Dad, you stripped me of every human right, my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my confidence, my innocence, my childhood, my education, my teenage years, a normal life, even my own voice – until today.”

Harrowing
Mr Justice Michael White noted the ‘length, intensity and depravity of the sexual abuse’. He said the garda evidence and Ms Murphy’s victim impact statement had been ‘harrowing and exceptional’.
He said Ms Murphy had shown ‘remarkable lucidity’ in her victim-impact statement and was a ‘very dignified person’ who had overcome the abuse to become a loving mother and partner and take up fulfilling employment.
In outlining the aggravating factors, Mr Justice White took into account the impact of the abuse on Ms Murphy and the particularly serious nature of the abuse, perpetrated over a period of time.
He said the breach of trust from a man who should have been protecting his daughter was a ‘very grave wrong’.
Mr Justice White said that taking into account the depth, length and nature of this abuse, the headline sentence – before taking into account the mitigating factors – had to be life imprisonment.
The judge said that in his view, Murphy’s remorse was genuine and that he had acknowledged the great hurt he had caused his daughter. He noted Murphy’s guilty pleas and serious health problems.
Mr Justice White imposed consecutive sentences totalling 18 years, which were backdated to when Murphy was taken into custody in December 2017.

Every opportunity
Garda Thomasina McHale told Patrick Reynolds BL, prosecuting, that she received a request in May 2015 to call to Ms Murphy’s home, where she reported that she had been extensively sexually abused by her father as a child. A further incident was alleged to have taken place when she was 25 years old.
Ms Murphy later gave a 110-page written statement to gardaí, outlining the details of the abuse, which occurred initially at family homes in Co Galway, as well as later in Co Mayo. She was also sexually abused in the family car while on the way to visit her grandmother.
Ms Murphy told gardaí she could not explain how often the sexual abuse happened, she said it was horrendous and happened at every opportunity. She said that her father had all the control.
Murphy was arrested in October 2016 and interviewed by gardaí. He admitted sexually abusing his daughter two or three times a week and raping her when she was about 13 or 14 years old.
Murphy has 73 previous convictions for the sexual assault of four victims. He received an eight-year sentence in February for sexual abuse involving Ms Murphy’s two younger sisters.
Murphy was aged between 31 and 44 years during the time he abused his young daughter.

‘Horrible journey’
In her victim-impact statement, Ms Murphy described the pervasive nature of the abuse and the effect it had on her.
She said she wanted her statement to be perfect and had written it a thousand times in her head. “It’s the only chance I’m ever going to get to tell you how much you destroyed my life, for your own sick pleasure. You put your horrible hands all over me. I was never my own person; you touched me whenever and wherever you wanted.”
The abuse was relentless, she said. “There is not a day in my life I don’t remember you abusing me. You abused me sexually, emotionally and physically. You never left me alone. It was just never ending, day after day, night after night.”
She outlined how she self-harmed from the age of nine or ten – hitting herself off objects to break her wrists and leg, tearing ligaments and spraining her ankle. This was confirmed by medical records.
“I took a couple of overdoses,” Ms Murphy continued, “but luckily for me I didn’t succeed, because you didn’t deserve my life but I did.”
She said the abuse impacted her education and made her feel worthless. She suffered with anxiety, paranoia, depression, insomnia and an eating disorder. She described how she was made out to be a liar when she initially reported the abuse and was bullied, as well as losing friends.
“When I finally found the courage in me again and had to tell the truth I didn’t think it would be as hard as it was,” she said. “I felt every emotion I felt as a child, but worse, as I also felt sorry for that child.”
“When I was told you abused my sisters, it broke my heart. I was so angry, so frustrated. I felt so guilty. I believed you. I trusted you when you told me you would never do it again.”
She outlined how she is now doing well and feeling stronger. “My life has got so much better since I started being able to talk and having the security of the amazing people I have in my life.”
She thanked her daughter describing her as ‘an amazing young woman who is also my best friend’, as well as her ‘two amazing, courageous sisters and amazing friends who have always been there’.
Ms Murphy also thanked Gda Thomasina McHale for her time and effort and whom she said ‘made this horrible journey as easy and bearable as possible’.
“I am no longer your victim,” she told her father. “I have taken back my life. I will never get my past back, but I have my future. You don’t have a future. You are now the one with no independence, no friends, no family, no voice and it’s my voice that made that possible.”
“You have damaged and destroyed so many lives. I get relief knowing you can never harm anyone else. You have left me with scars and wounds that will never be healed, but I am no longer your victim. I am a survivor.”