A farmer who was not charged for 26 years after he made "wholesale" admissions to gardaí to sexually abusing his young cousins has been jailed for 11 and a half years. Two of Thomas Collins' cousins were told to withdraw their statements against him by a serving garda in 1997 and when they again made formal complaints in 2002, the then DPP directed that he not be prosecuted, the Central Criminal Court heard. Collins went on to sexually abuse another person decades later and is currently serving a nine-and-a -half year sentence for this. Sentencing Collins today for the abuse of his three cousins, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said: "This is a case that should have been dealt with decades ago."
Collins, of The Fair Green, Frenchpark, Co Roscommon, pleaded guilty to 21 sample counts of the indecent assault, attempted rape and rape of his three young cousins, Gretta Conlon, Catherine Conlon and Gerard Conlon, in and around their two family homes on dates between 1978 and 1992. The court heard that Gretta Conlon and Catherine Conlon made statements to gardai in 1997 about the abuse they suffered on a regular basis at the hands of Collins from when they were aged three and six respectively. However, while they initially found the gardaí were helpful, they ultimately withdrew their complaints after a garda discouraged them from proceeding with the case. Sergeant Laura Martin told James Dwyer SC, prosecuting, that this garda's wife worked with Collins' wife. The court heard the two Conlon women again made a complaint to gardaí in 2002 but the DPP decided not to prosecute. The court heard that in his interview with gardaí in 1997, Collins said he knew what he was doing was wrong and that his cousins were only young at the time.
In 2002, he made a statement making further admissions and saying he "didn't realise (he) was doing any harm at the time" and he was only young. Ms Justice Ring asked if the DPP at the time saw these garda statements and was told they had. She praised the "stamina, determination and sense of right" that prevailed in Collins' cousins, who she noted had to wait until 2023 when he was charged and until this year when he entered guilty pleas. The court heard Collins also later admitted to the indecent assault of Gerard Conlon, who disclosed the abuse in more recent years. The court heard Collins terrorised his young cousin when he was sent to help out on his farm in the late 1970s, tying him to an electric fence and holding him over a bridge as well as sexually abusing him on three occasions. The court heard Collins indecently assaulted Catherine Conlon on a regular basis from when she was aged six to 12, before the abuse progressed to rape up until she was 18 years of age. Collins was aged between 13 and 26 at the time of the offending.
The court also heard Collins abused Gretta Conlon from the age of just three years old, with the abuse starting with indecent assault and progressing to several attempted rapes from when she was aged between eight and 11. The abuse occurred in both family homes as well as a turf shed, a cow shed and fields, the court heard. In his plea of mitigation, the defence noted that Collins was a child for much of the offending against his cousins, and would need to be treated by the court as such. Mr Dockery said Collins was extremely co-operative with the investigation and was frank to gardaí from as early as 1997 in relation to his abuse of Catherine and Gretta Conlon. He has two previous convictions for sexual misconduct.
He said until his incarceration, Collins farmed rented land in Roscommon and worked for Roscommon Mart. Taking all factors into account, she handed down a sentence of 12 and a half years and suspended the final year on a number of conditions.
