Jailed for 16.5 years for abusing wife and young sister-in-law

A woman who was raped by her former husband has spoken of her devastation to learn that he was also raping her younger teenage sister, saying she will be “forever haunted” by the fact that she let the girl down.

William Kavanagh (67), of Millbrook Court, Waterford, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court of a total of 59 offences against both women.

On Monday he was given consecutive sentences totalling 17 and a half years. The final year of the sentence was suspended on strict conditions.

Kavanagh had pleaded not guilty to three counts of anal rape of his former wife and not guilty to the 56 charges relating to her younger sister, who was a teenager at the time of the offending.

The charges against the younger sister ranged from sexual assault, oral rape, anal rape and vaginal rape from the time she was about seven years old to 16 years old. The offences took place between 1996 until 2006 in both Waterford and Wexford, where Kavanagh was living at the time.

Kavanagh is a well-known local musician who used to busk around the Waterford and Kilkenny area. He has four previous convictions including two for assault. He does not accept the jury’s verdict and maintains his innocence, the court heard.

Conor O’Doherty SC, prosecuting, told the court that while both women want Kavanagh to be named and understand that they may be identified in reporting of the case, they do not wish for their own names to be published.

The now 49-year-old woman (his former wife) read her victim impact statement into the record.

The woman said she now understands that while she was asleep upstairs in their home, Kavanagh was raping her younger sister downstairs.

“I never thought she would hide something so serious from me. This devastates me because we were so close, I can’t escape the guilt. My heart felt like someone was slicing into it with a knife. I was devastated,” she said.

“I am horrified that anyone can be so evil. I am terrified for my children’s future,” the woman said.

Referring to developing a relationship with Kavanagh as a 17 year old, while he was a married man and 18 years her senior, the woman said: “I should have been carefree at 17 years and excited about my future. 

“I was just an innocent teenager desperate to be loved and instead I brought a monster into my family,” the woman continued.

She said she will “be forever haunted by how much I let her (sister) down.” 

Her younger sister, now 36, also read her statement. 

She said: “I am so haunted by what he has done to me. The abuse took away opportunities I may have had.” 

“If I had never been abused, I could have lived but because of him I barely survived,” she said, adding that Kavanagh “nearly won” when she struggled, because “I didn’t want to be on this earth any more”.

“He robbed me of a normal childhood, he stole my virginity, he violated my whole body and soul. I am a survivor of child sexual abuse. I was groomed from six to 16 years old. I got away physically, but mentally I can never escape,” she said.

“By finally getting justice I can take my power back. It took immense courage to take the stand here and speak my truth. Here I am now, taking my life back,” the woman continued.

She thanked the judge, the jury, the gardaí, her GP and various counsellors and health care workers who helped her over the years.

Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo thanked both women for giving their evidence and wished them well. He said he hopes they are assisted by the fact that the case has reached its conclusion.

He said the evidence from the women and their victim impact statements make it “very clear” that the abuse had “a very real and enduring impact” on both of them.

In relation to Kavanagh’s ex-wife, Mr Justice Naidoo said the offence involved controlling behaviour, violence, degradation and was a breach of trust.

He said Kavanagh’s abuse of his wife's sister was “an escalating campaign of grooming” and was also degrading.

Mr Justice Naidoo said Kavanagh has a “very high degree of moral culpability” in the case and added the abuse was conducted during “virtually the entirety of her childhood”.

He said it had a devastating impact on her and continues to have a “profound ongoing impact” and made it very difficult for her to “live a happy and fulfilling life”.

The judge noted that Kavanagh does not accept the jury’s verdict and, as such, he has lost the most important mitigating feature of an acceptance of guilt.

He accepted that Kavanagh will live the rest of his life in prison but said he had lived most of his life without taking responsibility for the hurt he caused.

Mr Justice Naidoo imposed a sentence of seven years in relation to the offences against Kavanagh’s former wife and a consecutive term of 12 years and six months for the offences against her sister.

He said as it was a consecutive term, he would reduce the global sentence by two years before he imposed a sentence of 17 years and six months. The final 12 months of that term was then suspended.

Colman Cody SC, defending, said his client does not accept the verdicts of the jury but understands that the court needs to sentence him following the convictions.

A number of affidavits were handed into the court, including one from a different former partner who outlined how he is a good father to their children together.

Mr Cody asked the court to take into account that Kavanagh has no prior relevant convictions and spoke of how he has suffered from depression.

Counsel said Kavanagh is originally from Wexford and has four children. He has worked as a musician in various venues in Ireland, Germany and Tenerife.

Vulnerable

Detective Garda Patricia Lonergan told Mr O’Doherty that the now 36-year-old woman was the youngest of the siblings. Her older sister, now 49 years old, first met Kavanagh when she was 17 years old. Kavanagh was 18 years older. They later married and a had a child together.

The court heard that Kavanagh was married when he met the first woman. She was a vulnerable teenager and had just moved out of home. Kavanagh began to call round to her flat and a sexual relationship later developed.

He convinced the then teenager to allow him to tie her up. She consented to this at first but then he tried to get her to agree to have anal sex with him. She initially consented but then said it was too painful.

Kavanagh continued to anally rape her and she later told gardaí it didn’t matter to him if she was crying or if she was telling him it hurt. She said a pattern of anal rape began. 

She later told gardaí that she was not experienced at the time and he convinced her “no one else would want me”.

The woman told gardaí of one occasion when Kavanagh pinned her against a car bonnet and “viciously” anally raped her while she screamed.

The woman ultimately decided to leave Kavanagh and moved away in an effort to get away from him, but he begged her to stay and promised he would change.

Det Gda Lonergan said she was drawn in by these promises and the relationship developed again. They were married three years before she ultimately left Kavanagh. 

The detective said Kavanagh first sexually assaulted his wife’s younger sister when she was a young child. She had developed a particularly close relationship with Kavanagh as she saw him as a father figure. She was having difficulties at home at the time and was seeking a role model in her life.

Det Gda Lonergan said Kavanagh was very affectionate towards the girl and made himself available to her.

She later told gardaí that the abuse began with Kavanagh getting the child to touch him, and escalated to rape as she grew older.

Det Gda Lonergan said Kavanagh orally raped and sexually assaulted her on car journeys after he collected her from the family home to bring her to his family home.

He later organised for her to attend the local secondary school near their home. He would regularly pick the teenager up from school during her lunch break, bring her back to the house and both anally and vaginally rape her.

She later told gardaí that Kavanagh groomed her from a very young age and forced her to engage in very demeaning sexual acts.

Kavanagh’s abuse of the teenager came to light when a neighbour raised a concern with her sister that she had seen him bringing the child home at lunchtime.

Her sister then decided that the teenager should not live with them anymore, but she did not know that Kavanagh had been abusing her.

The younger woman did not disclose the abuse until 2021 when she became concerned for the welfare of other children that were in Kavanagh’s care at the time. She initially told her GP but didn’t feel she was in a position to go any further with her complaint.

Det Gda Lonergan said she made a formal statement to gardaí two years later.

Kavanagh was arrested and denied the abuse. He said they were false complaints motivated by issues around arrangements with childcare. He also claimed that the younger woman had mental health issues.

Victim Impact Statements 

The younger sister read her victim impact statement into the record. She said she wanted the court to understand the impact the abuse had on her future and her family.

She said as a younger child she was full of enthusiasm and amazement for the world “until he set his eyes on me”. 

She said she was “trapped, powerless, unsafe and isolated – he stole those vital shaping years”.

She said she has “to dissociate just to survive” before she described herself as “a vulnerable and gullible child”.

“I never wanted to talk about this but for the truth to be heard, I had to. He groomed, coercively controlled and sexually abused me,” she continued.

Referring to Kavanagh denying the charges and electing for trial, the woman said he could have avoided these proceedings had he admitted his wrongdoing.

“I hope to protect others and any other child,” she said adding, “someone should have protected me”.

“I thought it was my fault because he told me it was. He made sure he never took responsibility. He effortlessly had me as his prey. He ripped my soul from my body,” she said.

She said she was “intimidated and completely controlled by this man. My mind blocked his secret. I hid the lies he made me keep, the tears I could not show. I still find it difficult to cry. I didn’t have the keys to get out,” she said.

She spoke of how terrified she was that no one would believe her and spoke of how she struggled to concentrate in school and to make friends.

She said Kavanagh has had almost 70 years of “a great life – pretending to be something he is not – a human – a human does not do that to a child,” she said.

The older woman said she was a “vulnerable, naive and insecure 17-year-old” when she first met Kavanagh. 

“I had no experience of relationships. He knew my circumstances and he took an immediate interest in me. I had very little friends. Boys had no interest in me.” 

Referring to the relationship developing with Kavanagh she said she was ashamed. 

“I was brandished a slut in my hometown.” 

She said she didn’t understand that he was grooming her. 

“He talked of love – that was always missing in my life. At first, I felt so grown up but then it went past consent. I was in shock afterwards and told him I did not want to do that. He tried to convince me to relax and give in to it. He convinced me every man expected this and I didn’t know any different,” she continued.

She said it became a pattern and she would be left crying and begging him to stop but it would be followed by “grand gestures” from Kavanagh.

She said she always felt the threat hanging over her. “I got sucked in again and again. I forgave him over and over. I was desperate to believe that he didn’t want to hurt me,” she continued.

She said she lived in constant fear but Kavanagh told her it was a sex addiction and if she just gave into it every now and then it would go easier on her.

The woman spoke of how she felt suicide was the only option because she could not see how she could ever get rid of him.

“I felt trapped. I had no one to help me out of the abuse. I felt completely alone and damaged,” she said.

She spoke of how Kavanagh began to isolate her by making it difficult for her to go out and socialise.

She referred to Kavanagh as “a master manipulator” and how he used to convince her he had changed.

She spoke of how she suffers with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder. She struggles to retain relationships and does not handle disputes well.