Ex-band leader jailed for sexually abusing two girls

Ex-band leader jailed for sexually abusing two girls

28 August 2019

A DOWNPATRICK pensioner has been jailed for 15 months for sexually abusing two young girls.

Liam Patrick Rafferty (75), a former leader and child protection officer of an award-winning accordion band, wept in the dock as he was sentenced at Newtownards Crown Court last Wednesday.

Passing sentence, Judge Geoffrey Millar told Rafferty, of Mary Street, that there were numerous aggravating features to his offending, including the “deliberate isolation” and grooming of the victims “to perpetrate the repeated offending”.

Judge Millar also told Rafferty that, as the leader of the St Miguel Accordion Band, he had been held in high regard in his community and with a high degree of trust so “the breach of the trust reposed in him was all the greater”.

At the end of a two-week trial last June Rafferty was convicted by the jury of seven counts of sexual activity with a girl aged 13-16 and two counts of sexually assault against two young victims on dates between July 21, 2012, and January 11, 2016. 

At last week’s sentencing hearing prosecution lawyer Laura Ievers described how Rafferty had been giving private music lessons to the victims in his home when there were repeated incidents of kissing and inappropriate touching. 

Mrs Ievers recounted how Rafferty was convicted on three counts of sexual activity with a child in relation to the first victim who was aged between 13-14 when she was abused. 

There was also an element of grooming by Rafferty in that he had sent the girl numerous messages on social media where he used “terms on affection” and offered her a gift of a printer. 

The second victim, she told the court, was aged between 14-16 when Rafferty abused her by kissing her on the lips and “rubbing her leg” when she was having music lessons. 

“He told her that he loved her and offered to take her to Dublin,” Mrs Levers said, adding that at one stage, Rafferty’s wife saw her husband touching the girls leg and confronted him about it. 

Arrested and interviewed in 2016, Rafferty denied any wrongdoing and gave evidence on his own behalf before the jury maintaining his innocence.

The court heard that while he “accepts the jury’s verdicts,” he still claimed to be innocent. 

Mrs Ievers said that having “put himself in the role of teacher and mentor and held himself out as a guardian,” including his role as child protection officer in the band he led, it was a “breach of trust case”.

While Rafferty had a clear record and had “significant health issues,” there was “an absence of remorse” on his part, submitted Mrs Ievers. 

Defence lawyer Chris Holmes said that as a result of those health problems Rafferty was “going to find a custodial sentence more difficult than perhaps an average defendant and that as the main carer for his “extremely ill” wife, “incarceration of her husband is going to significantly affect her.”

He said that from the evidence at the trial, “it became clear to the court” that over the years, Rafferty had been in “close personal contact with tens of thousands, certainly thousands, of young people and we have ended up in this case with two victims”.

“Throughout the years he was working in the community, doing a huge amount of good and he has destroyed that completely,” conceded Mr Holmes, who added that Rafferty had “utterly destroyed an impeccable reputation”.

Jailing Rafferty and ordering him to sign the police sex offenders register for ten years, Judge Millar said that the loss of reputation in a small town such as Downpatrick “will have almost as big an impact on him as the sentences.”

The judge said he was satisfied from the various reports that Rafferty was not a dangerous offender but that given the nature of the offences “there can be no doubt that the custody threshold is passed and that the sentence must be immediate custody.”

In addition to the jail term, Rafferty will spend 15 months on supervised licence on his release and will be subject to a five-year sexual offences prevention order.

Detectives from PSNI’s Public Protection Branch have welcomed the sentence.

Detective Sergeant Nigel Sterritt said: “I would like to commend the two young women for their bravery in coming forward and seeking justice.

“Seeing your case through the criminal justice system is a huge undertaking and they have both displayed immense courage and fortitude throughout. “

He continued: “Our officers in PSNI Public Protection Branch are committed to investigating all reports of sexual offences against children and young people.

“Regardless of when an offence took place, we will seek to place offenders before the courts so they can be made amenable for their crimes. We have specially trained officers who will treat you with sensitivity and respect. 

“I would continue to encourage anyone who has experienced any form of  sexual abuse to contact police on 101.”

 A spokesperson for NSPCC Northern Ireland said: “Rafferty’s predatory and calculated actions represent a shocking abuse of his position of trust.

“Sexual abuse ruins childhoods with the effects lasting long into adulthood and we hope Rafferty’s victims, whose bravery has helped bring him to justice, now receive the support they need to recover.

“We urge other survivors of sexual abuse to come forward in the knowledge that their voices will be heard. Anyone concerned about a child’s welfare can contact the NSPCC for help and advice.”