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A VICTIM of paedophile swimming coach Derry O'Rourke has urged the government not to rush through emergency law dealing with child sex offences. Victims and legal experts alike are alarmed at justice minister Michael McDowell's plan to steer an amending bill through the D�il on Tuesday night in an attempt to close a legal loophole created by the Oireachtas after the Supreme Court struck down the law on statutory rape last summer.
"We've all seen what knee-jerk legislation brings about, " says the woman, who was repeatedly abused as a child by O'Rourke. This doesn't go anywhere near protecting the child. . . What will it take? Will a child have to be abducted, abused and murdered before they start to address it seriously?"
According to Brendan Howlin, Labour justice spokesman, a provision for free legal aid for chid sex abuse victims and the crime of gross indecency also fell foul of the new act. As the law stands, someone like Fr Se�n Fortune, who committed suicide while awaiting trial in 1999, could not be accused of gross indecency, for which he faced 12 charges at the time of his death.
When asked if the state would apply for the extradition of former swimming coach George Gibney to face charges of child rape and assault, the garda said: "It is our policy not to comment on individual cases."
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YOU ARE HERE: 11 November 2007 / tribune.ie / 2007 / 03 / 04
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