Former RTÉ cameraman to be sentenced next week for sexual abuse of stepdaughter

A former RTÉ cameraman will be sentenced next week for sexually abusing his stepdaughter.

Tony Byrne (66) had told gardaí that the complaint was “revenge” against him and denied the allegation but was found guilty following a trial last month.

Today, Dublin Circuit Court heard that the defendant, of Carriglea Court in Firhouse, Dublin 24, now accepts the jury’s verdict.

His stepdaughter Donna McCarthy was 16 at the time of the incident on May 10, 1992, and has waived her right to anonymity so that Byrne can be identified.

Prosecutor Fiona Crawford BL took detective garda Aine Bolton of Tallaght garda station through the facts of the case.

The court heard that Ms McCarthy had been at a christening on the day of the incident when she returned to the family home in Firhouse and went to bed.

She heard her stepfather coming up the stairs and presumed he was going to bed, but he came into her room and got in beside her.

The court heard that she called him dad and that the defendant made a reference to a local boy whom Ms McCarthy fancied, with Byrne saying: “I don’t think I’m [him]”.

Det Gda Bolton said that the Byrne put his arm around his stepdaughter to hug her, placed his hand around her genital area, and then rubbed his hand over and back across her breast area.

Ms McCarthy got up and ran across the road to a neighbour’s house where her mother was.

She was crying and told her mother that her stepfather had “got into bed with me” when asked what was wrong.

The court heard that in the days leading up to the abuse Ms McCarthy began to feel uncomfortable in the family home with remarks Byrne was making.

He “made comments to her about her boobs” and she felt weird as this was being said without her mother present.

She told gardaí that after the incident things were “very different in the house”.

A complaint was subsequently made in 2019 and the following year Tony Byrne was arrested by appointment.

When interviewed he told gardaí that his stepdaughter was “going through a lot of stuff in her life” and that the complaint made was “revenge” on him.

He was later charged and denied the allegation but was found guilty following a jury trial last month

The court heard he had worked as a cameraman with RTÉ and Virgin Media before retiring last year.

His defence counsel James Dwyer SC said his client had also played football for Shamrock Rovers and Ireland U-15s.

In a handwritten letter, Byrne said now he acknowledges and accepts the jury’s verdict, and that he wished Ms McCarthy and her family a peaceful future.

He said he “can’t begin to imagine the pain and confusion” she has felt since the incident and offered her his “deepest and honest” apology.

Byrne accepted that he will be known as a sex offender for the rest of his life and that he was sorry for bringing this “harsh and shameful reality” into his family’s life.

Mr Dwyer said his client has no previous convictions and that evidence given during the trial stated that he has not come under investigation for any similar matters since.

Byrne’s wife and three children were in court to support him.

His defence counsel asked the court to take into account the lack of previous convictions, the remorse expressed, and that his client was a man of “otherwise good character”.

Judge Elma Sheahen adjourned sentencing to next Wednesday and remanded the defendant in custody.

Tony Byrne gave family members in court a thumbs-up before he was led away by prison officers.

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