Judge: Little point in jailing paedophiles

Ex-Supreme Court justice’s claim met with anger

RETIRED top judge Catherine McGuinness has been criticised for saying lengthy sentences for sex offenders serve little purpose.

Judge McGuinness has said prison is largely ineffective for rehabilitating sex offenders and said she does not think ‘jail does them much good anyway’.

She also insisted the judge who jailed paedophile Tom Humphries for two-and-a half years ‘did that case very well’, saying Humphries should not be put in jail ‘for years and years’.

But Clíona Saidléar of Rape Crisis Network Ireland said it was important for the punishment to reflect the crime.

She said: ‘There is the argument that for the safety of the community we should keep sex offenders in jail for as long as Row: Catherine McGuinness possible, but of course we can’t lock them all up forever.

‘However, a survivor is looking for a sentence that acknowledges the severity of the crime and wrongdoing.

‘A sentence communicates the message of justice to the survivor and society; jail time is not just about the criminal.’

Ms Saidléar also said: ‘From the point of view of the safety of the community, rehabilitation of a sex offender is a very important goal and they are under our control for a relatively short period of time while they are in prison.’

Judge McGuinness, a former Supreme Court judge, told the Irish Times: ‘For sexual offenders I don’t think jail does them much good anyway.’

But she did say the offence ‘absolutely should be marked with some sort of punishment’.

Dublin Councillor Mannix Flynn said sex offenders must be ‘rubbing their hands’ with glee after hearing the former Supreme court judge claim there isn’t much point sending them to prison for a long time.

He said: ‘Courts and sentencing people to prison are deterrents to try and stop people breaking the law.

‘Sentencing of sex offenders must send out a clear message to survivors and society that if the law is broken these people face consequences. Sex offenders in society offending at the moment and not before the law must be rubbing their hands. It is like a burglar being told a burglar alarm is not going to go off.

‘Prison must be a deterrent to sex offenders and people backing Tom Humphries’s lenient sentence is a serious error.’

Elsewhere, Vincent Browne said sexual abuse was endemic in Ireland.

The broadcaster said: ‘I’m sort of depressed by the reaction to Tom Humphries and Harvey Weinstein. Not because what they did wasn’t abominable but because why was there surprise?

‘The SAVI [Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland] report published in 2002... showed that about 200,000 women had been raped in the course of their lifetime. And that’s rape – many more had been sexually abused. And there were 60,000 men raped too.’