Ballyfermot man jailed for 10 years for the sexual abuse of his twin sisters
By Isabel Hayes & Declan Brennan
A man who sexually abused his younger twin sisters over a six-year period when he was a teenager has been jailed for 10 years for the “callous” abuse.
William McGlone (34) robbed his sisters of their childhood by manipulating and abusing them from when they were just eight years' old, Justice Patrick McCarthy said in the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday.
He was jailed for 10 years for 21 counts of sexual assault, rape, oral rape of his sister Wendy between July 1995 and October 2001 and one count of sexually assaulting his sister Stacey between April 1995 and June 1996.
Both victims waived their right to anonymity in court.
McGlone, formerly of Cherry Orchard Avenue, Ballyfermot, Dublin, was 13 years old when he began the abuse. His sisters were four years younger than him.
He told gardai that when the assaults began his “moral compass was askew” because he had been sexually abused himself and was told it was a normal thing to do.
“My moral compass was wrong at the time,” he told them. He admitted sexually assaulting his sister Stacey when she was just around eight.
During a number of garda interviews, he later admitted regularly assaulting and raping his sister Wendy, these attacks included raping her with a shampoo bottle and, on another occasion, with a vibrator, which he also used on himself.
“I admit it. I wish to say I’m sorry. I’m a horrible person and brother,” he told gardai.
McGlone pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexually assaulting Wendy McGlone and three counts of raping her. He pleaded guilty to one count of sexually assaulting Stacey McGlone.
However, he went on to deny a slew of further rape and sexual assault charges and stood trial last January. He gave evidence at trial, during which he admitted sexually abusing Wendy at times but also called her a “liar” when it came to other instances of abuse.
He was found guilty by a jury of three counts of sexual assault, seven counts of rape and one count of attempted rape of Wendy McGlone.
McGlone, a father-of-one whose partner is expecting his second child, was previously jailed in 2012 for the sexual assault of a drunken 14-year-old girl in the city centre on April 14, 2009.
He was given a three-year sentence with the final 20 months suspended.
In a victim impact statement handed into court, Wendy said she “grew up being abused and raped while her friends were being read bedtime stories”, Mr Justice McCarthy said.
The court heard she would lie awake in bed terrified she was going to become pregnant. She was “heartbroken” when she heard her twin sister was also abused.
She still suffers from insomnia and debilitating nightmares, the court heard. She said sitting through the trial was the “most distressing experience of her life”.
In her victim impact report, Stacey said: “When I was eight years’ old I was robbed of my innocence by my brother.” Both sisters reported feeling shame and embarrassment growing up and realising that their brother’s behaviour was not normal.
The court heard that McGlone’s attacks on Wendy took place up to four times a week from the age of eight to the age of 15. When she turned ten he began raping her around once a week.
Mr Justice McCarthy said the victims “lived a devastating childhood”. He said it was hard to put into words the seriousness of the offences committed by their brother.
“He manipulated his victims,” the judge said, adding McGlone was “callous in his pattern of offending”.
He noted that McGlone persisted in his offending until he was 19 years’ old. “His moral culpability increased the older he got,” he said.
Mr Justice McCarthy noted McGlone had a history of alcohol and drug abuse and had been diagnosed with a personality disorder but said he was “unimpressed by the relevance” of that diagnosis.
He accepted McGlone’s assertion that he had been sexually abused when he was aged between six and 12.
The court heard McGlone wrote a letter to the judge expressing his remorse. He now accepts the verdict of the jury.
Mr Justice McCarthy noted McGlone was at a high risk of re-offending and he expressed concern for his children upon his release.
He ordered that McGlone be subject to post-release supervision for a period of seven years.
He backdated the sentence to when McGlone first went into custody in February this year.
