Latest news with #YvonneCrist
The Sun
14-07-2025
- The Sun
Three brave Dublin sisters waive anonymity to name ex-priest brother caged for rape after ‘sickening abuse'
A MAN who told his sisters they would be doing him a favour to have sex with him as he was going to become a priest and had sexual urges has been jailed for eight years. Richard Brennan's sisters, Catherine Wrightstone, Yvonne Crist and Paula Faye, waived their anonymity so he could be named. 4 4 4 Brennan, 64, previously of Rathfarnham, now living in the United States, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 24 counts against his three sisters, including 18 of indecent assault and six charges of rape. He entered the guilty pleas after each of the three women had given evidence before a jury and before the final woman was about to be cross-examined. He pleaded guilty to four sample charges of indecent assault and four rape charges against Paula Faye on dates between January 1978 and December 1981 when she was aged between 13 and 17 years old. Brennan also pleaded guilty to 13 sample incidences of indecent assault and two charges of rape against a second sister, Catherine Wrightstone, on dates between June 1980 and December 1984 while she was aged between nine and 14 years old. He finally pleaded guilty to indecent against the oldest of the sisters, Yvonne Crist, when she was about 20 years old on dates between June 1979 and June 1980. Brennan was between 17 and 24 years old at time of the offending. Brennan has no previous convictions. He was ordained as a priest in 1989 and moved to the US, but later married and had a family. He returned from the US for questioning and the trial. Earlier this month, another brother Bernard Brennan, 67, formerly of Rathfarnham, Dublin, but most recently residing in the United States, was jailed for four and half years after he admitted to sexual abuse of both Yvonne Crist and Paula Faye. Bernard Brennan pleaded guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault in various locations within the State between 1972 and 1975. He has no previous convictions. Sentencing Richard Brennan today, Mr Justice David Keane said it was heartening to hear the three women in victim impact statement describe themselves as survivors. BRAVE SISTERS The judge said the sisters had made the 'truly courageous' decision to report their brother's crimes to the gardai. Mr Justice Keane said he had the most 'immense admiration' for the determination shown by the three women in bringing the case before the courts and hoped that they would get something from their brother's 'belated acceptances of guilt'. He wished them well for the future. Mr Justice Keane said the aggravating features of the case included the particularly young ages of both Ms Faye and Ms Wrightstone at the time of the abuse against them and the fact that the abuse occurred in a place where the sisters should have felt secure. Instead, Brennan created an environment of fear and confusion, he said. The judge also took into account the fact that there was a pattern of frequent assaults against the younger two sisters over a lengthy period of time and that Brennan was a seminarian at the time, with particular familial responsibilities to his younger sisters. EACH CAUSED HARM Finally, Mr Justice Keane said there were three separate victims in the case who each have been psychologically damaged and that Brennan caused each of them significant harm. He set headline sentences of 12 years for the rapes committed against Ms Wrightstone, and headline sentences of 10 years for the rapes committed against Ms Faye. He set headline sentences of six years against the indecent assaults against Ms Wrightstone and headline sentences of 21 months and 18 months for the indecent assaults against Ms Faye and Ms Crist. Mr Justice Keane said he must take into consideration mitigation including what he said was a late plea entered on the ninth day of the trial. He acknowledged that Brennan has shown deep remorse and that he has apologised to each of his victim. CO-OPERATED WITH COPS He said Brennan was also entitled to significant credit for his lack of previous convictions and the fact that he co-operated with gardai. Mr Justice Keane said he accepted evidence that Brennan appears to have been present during some incidences of abuse carried out by his brother Bernard Brennan on both Ms Faye and Ms Crist. He said he was also taking into account the character evidence given during the sentence hearing by Brennan's wife and testimonials handed into court by a number of other people. Mr Justice Keane imposed a term of nine years for the rape offences carried out by Brennan against Ms Wrightstone. CONCURRENT TERMS He imposed concurrent terms of seven and half years for the rape offences committed against Ms Faye and four and half years for the indecent assaults against Ms Wrightstone. He imposed further concurrent terms of 16 months and 14 months for the indecent assault offences committed against Ms Faye and Ms Crist. A global sentence of nine years was backdated to March 18 last when Brennan first went into custody. Mr Justice Keane noted that a report from the Probation Service indicated that Brennan is willing to engage with offence focused work as deemed suitable by them and said he must 'consider the prospect of rehabilitation' upon his ultimate release from prison. 'SICKENING ABUSE' He suspended the final 12 months of the nine-year term on condition that Brennan engage with the Probation Service for a year upon his release. He did not impose a post release supervision order after acknowledging that Brennan intends to return to the States when he leaves Ireland. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre commended the 'immense courage' shown by survivors. Chief Executive Rachel Morrogh said: 'Yvonne Crist, Paula Fay, and Catherine Wrightstone suffered sickening abuse at the hands of their siblings." 'LIFELONG IMPACT' She added: 'All these women were denied their most basic human rights by the very people they should have been able to trust. 'Sexual abuse has a devastating, lifelong impact for child victims. The fear and terror it creates is compounded when it happens in the family home, a place where every child should feel safe and should be safe. 'It can be particularly challenging to report offending within a family, but it is a devastatingly common occurrence. 'Dublin Rape Crisis Centre stands in solidarity with every survivor of sexual violence. 'We encourage anyone affected by this issue in any way to call the National Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 88 88 for completely confidential and free information and support, available 24 hours a day.' 4
BreakingNews.ie
05-06-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (67) jailed for subjecting his younger sisters to 'horrific' and repeated sexual abuse
A man who subjected two of his younger sisters to 'horrific' and repeated sexual abuse in the 1970s has been jailed for four-and-a-half years. Bernard Brennan (67), formerly of Rathfarnham, Dublin, but most recently residing in the United States, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault in various locations within the State between 1972 and 1975. He has no previous convictions. Advertisement His sisters, Yvonne Crist and Paula Fay, waived their anonymity so Brennan could be named. Passing sentence in the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the facts of the case were 'appalling'. He said that while the abuse Brennan pleaded guilty to fell under the historic term of 'indecent assault', today the abuse would constitute offences that have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. However, he noted the court was bound by law to the maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment and that Brennan was a juvenile when he committed the abuse. Advertisement Brennan pleaded guilty in advance of his trial date to four counts of indecent assault against Ms Crist and seven counts of indecent assault against Ms Fay. Ms Crist was aged 13, while Ms Fay was just seven years old when the abuse started. Mr Justice McDermott said some of the abuse perpetrated against the sisters was 'horrific to hear and to describe'. He said they gave 'eloquent, moving statements' outlining the horrors they have experienced and the pain they have suffered as a result of the abuse. He said the devastation the abuse caused was 'unspeakable' and the penalties to be imposed were 'by reason of history and nothing else'. He set a headline sentence of 21 months for each count and reduced this to 15 months, taking mitigating factors into account. He imposed four concurrent sentences of 15 months on Brennan, amounting to five years' imprisonment. Advertisement He reduced this to four-and-a-half years and backdated it to when Brennan went into custody earlier this year. At a previous hearing, Detective Garda Neil Fogarty told Patrick McCullough BL, prosecuting, that in relation to Ms Fay, the abuse started when the then seven-year-old was called in to the house by Brennan – then aged 14 years old – and forced to take off her clothes in front of a group of local boys. Brennan touched her inappropriately in front of these boys and from then on the abuse escalated, to include oral rape. He would wake her in the night to abuse her. The court heard he threatened Ms Fay that their family would be split up if she told anyone about the abuse. Advertisement Ms Crist was 13 and Brennan was aged 15 when he started abusing her. He would wake her in the night, sexually assault her and make her watch pornography. He digitally penetrated her and performed oral sex on her. She was afraid to call out or tell her parents for fear of physical punishment, the court heard. Brennan subjected both girls to abuse in front of and with a third party, the court heard. A letter was found from Brennan to his father, dated 2012, in which he apologised to his parents for abusing his sisters, but stated that he had no memory of it. Advertisement In her victim impact statement, Ms Crist said it has been hard to trust anyone in her life except her sister. 'Incest has affected me, and I have had to bury it deep inside,' she said. 'You took my innocence, and I will never forget that,' she said. 'I have become a strong person, and I have met these challenges head-to-head.' 'I forgave you, my brother, a long time ago, but I have had to hang onto the past until now. The truth has now been told, and you will now be known as a sexual predator for the rest of your life.' 'You have put us through hell,' she added. 'May you never find peace again.' Ms Fay also read her victim impact statement to the court, in which she said she was 'silenced' in her childhood and felt 'invisible, worthless and inferior'. 'Growing up as a child, I always felt incapable, insufficient and inadequate,' she said. 'I should have felt safe in my childhood home.' 'I struggle with being alone because that's when the thoughts of self-doubt come back.' She said the legal process has been a long and arduous one, starting back in 2021. 'I have felt so much freedom since, and so much weight lifted off my shoulders,' she said. 'I chose to survive. Today, I truly became a survivor. I now have justice.' Det Gda Fogarty agreed with Miska Hanahoe BL, defending, that her client has no previous convictions in Ireland or any other jurisdiction. The garda agreed with counsel that he immediately stated he would travel from the United States to Ireland and indicated that he would plead guilty. Ms Hanahoe said her client offers an unreserved apology to both of the injured parties. She said Brennan has suffered profound guilt and shame throughout his life. Ireland Two teenagers sentenced for roles in rape of girl... Read More Counsel said he grew up in a violent home and that his only sexual education was from pornography, which he re-enacted. She said her client has no memory of the abuse but does not dispute the evidence of his sisters. She said he has never tried to minimise his wrongdoing. He asked the court to take into account that the Probation Services have placed him at low risk of reoffending, that he has co-operated fully with the gardaí, that he has shown remorse, and his age at the time of the offending. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at or visit Rape Crisis Help .
