Dad who sexually abused 5 of his kids and forced them to drink urine jailed | World | News

A man who sexually abused five children between the ages of 3 and 17 was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Noel Farrell, 70, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to multiple charges of sexual abuse against his four daughters and a son at various addresses in County Sligo, Ireland, over two decades.

The court heard Farrell locked her children in a room with no food for days and forced them to drink urine. He initially faced 109 charges but pleaded guilty to three rapes of his three daughters and 19 counts of indecent assault and sexual assault against all five complainants at various addresses in Co Sligo between 1979 and 1997. The five victims waived their right to anonymity so that their father’s name could be disclosed.

The court heard Farrell and his late wife had serious problems with alcohol. Children were neglected and often went hungry. After the marriage broke down, Farrell went to England. Some of the children were taken into care at various stages. The court was told the Medical Board had concerns about sexual misconduct and this was reported in some form in 1989.

To talk Six One News from RTÉFarrell’s son Christopher said he was 15 months old when the abuse began for him and described it as “your worst nightmare”. Her sister Jessica said she was three years old when she “first remembered the moment” she was abused by her father. They said their aunt would come to distribute food to them, but sometimes they were left without food, with only a bucket in the room to use as a toilet.

“From what I can remember from my own memories, it was like that until I was five or six years old. No child should have to go through something like that under any circumstances, especially from people who are supposed to be your parents, your fathers,” Christopher said.

Sentencing Farrell on Saturday, February 21, His Honor Judge Tony Hunt said it was a case he suspected would remain etched in his memory “for all the wrong reasons”, including the extreme cruelty and seriousness of the offence. “It’s truly shocking,” he said.

“I am at a loss for words trying to describe how deep it goes in this particular case. I say this as a way of trying to show how extreme and horrific the nature of the facts in this case are.”

He said the complainants had been subjected to a very bad situation in life and a “grotesque violation of parental trust”. He said they showed extraordinary fortitude and courage in facing their lives. In their victim impact statements, five siblings talked about the effects of the abuse on their mental health, relationships and lives. Some of the victims also spoke about developing addiction issues and the effects of being placed in care.

Noting that there were no mitigating factors in the case, but taking into account the confession of crime, Mr Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment and reduced this sentence to 20 years. He said there was no need to issue a post-release supervision order because Farrell would be too old if he were to “come out of prison.”

according to Irish MirrorFarrell showed no visible reaction as complainants in the case hugged each other during the sentencing.