Woman, 21, who was repeatedly raped and abused by her teenage brother from the age of six says she ‘doesn’t blame her parents’ for not reporting him to the police when he admitted what he’d done 13 years ago

• Aoife Farrelly, was repeately molested by her older brother when she was a child
• The 21-year-old from Co. Meath, Ireland told her parents about the abuse 
• The parents confronted their son Cian, then 15, but didn’t report him to police
• Cian Farrelly, now 30, has been jailed for three years as his sister said ‘goodbye’

A woman who was molested by her big brother for two years said ‘goodbye’ to her abuser as he was jailed for three years.

Aoife Farrelly, 21, from County Meath, Ireland, was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by her brother Cian, now 30, when she was between six and eight years old and he was aged 15 to 17.

The abuse only stopped when she told her parents what her brother had been doing. 

They confronted him but they did not call the police.  

Speaking outside Central Criminal Court, Dublin, after Cian’s sentencing Aoife waived her right to anonymity in the hope it would encourage other survivors of sexual assault to speak up.

Courageous Aoife Farrelly, 21, from Co. Meath, Ireland, spoke out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her older brother Cian when she was a child left in his care

Cian Farrelly was 15 years old when he began abusing his little sister, who was often left in his care, Independent.ie reports.

The court heard distressing details about how Farrelly would put his hand over his little sister’s mouth to stifle her screams as he raped her and told her the abuse was ‘our secret’.

In her victim impact statement Aoife said she didn’t blame her parents but felt they didn’t understand how traumatised she had been by her brother’s abuse.

The court heard Cian remained in his little sister’s life after the secret was out – and during the pandemic, Aoife was ‘trapped’ in the family home with him.

In October 2020 she made a statement to the police and reported her brother for the abuse he had inflicted upon her. 

Speaking courageously to her abuser in court, she said ‘goodbye’ to the man who had ‘torn [her] whole world apart’.

She shared horrifying details of times when her brother abused her, including an incident when she burnt her finger at the age of seven and Cian put it in his mouth.

Later that week, Aoife recalled her brother asking for a hug before touching her inappropriately. 

She also detailed how he took indecent pictures of her while she felt unable to breathe because he was pressing her neck with such force.

As a result of the abuse Aoife said she had suffered with anxiety, disordered eating, OCD and PTSD. She has also self-harmed.

She described how her intimate relationships and her relationship with her parents have been affected by her brother’s abuse.

After Farrelly pleaded guilty to the abuse he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail, with the last 18 months suspended.

Justice McDermott said he was unable to sentence the abuser as an adult, with a guideline of 10-15 years, because he was underage when he committed the offences.

The judge pointed to the element of violence in the attacks, which left a young Aoife ‘helpless, isolated and alone’. 

Although she had been brave enough to report the abuse to her parents, Justice McDermott said Aoife had been left unable to trust other people as a consequence of what she had suffered. 

Eileen O’Leary, defending, said Aoife’s parents had been left in a ‘horrible situation’ after finding out about their son’s actions, which had caused conflict in the family.

O’Leary said it was recommended Farrelly have counselling for sexual self-regulation.

Farrelly took to the stand to apologise to his sister for the hurt he had caused her and admitted he had ‘destroyed’ the family. 

Speaking outside of court Aoife said no sentence would be long enough for her but she feels a sense of justice at knowing her brother is paying for his crimes.

She also said she hopes she will never have to see or hear from her brother again, but vowed not to let him take away her voice any longer.

‘I’m a lot more content now than I was,’ she said. ‘No sentence would have been long enough at all….but just hearing the headline sentence was enough for me.

‘I always said it had to be three to five [years]. That was what I had in my head and I got that. When I got that I just broke down because everything I sacrificed for years has finally made it all worth it.’

She added that she’s determined to move on with her life, saying: ‘I am Aoife Farrelly, this happened to me but it’s not going to define me anymore. Today is the start of the rest of my life and I am so grateful that I finally got my little piece of justice that I needed to keep going.’ 

If you need support after rape or sexual assault, you can contact the Rape Crisis helpline on 0808 802 9999 

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