# Child Abuse

This year

2023

Gardaí assist in Europol operation that freed six children from child sexual abuse

The operation, dubbed the Victim Identification Taskforce organised by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), took place earlier this month.

10.0k

May 26th 2023, 11:48 AM

# Court

Man tells trial he was tied to tree as a child and abused by former sports coach

There are five complainants in the case, all men now in their 40s and 50s.

23.5k

Updated

Apr 20th 2023, 10:15 PM

Last year

2022

Voices

Opinion: Child Marriage - a human rights violation happening every two seconds

Carole Wickham of Plan International Ireland outlines the needless suffering of so many young girls and what can be done to prevent it.

13.1k

Dec 10th 2022, 7:00 AM

# Courts

Man gets suspended sentence for possession of child abuse material

Short pleaded guilty to possession of seven images and 14 videos of child pornography

23.9k

Oct 21st 2022, 4:12 PM

# Child Abuse

Bill seeking to remove 'child pornography' term from Irish legislation to be debated in Seanad

Senator Eileen Flynn’s private members’ bill would replace the term with “child sexual exploitation material”.

16.7k

Feb 3rd 2022, 4:16 PM

All time

# Vatican

Two priests cleared after Vatican sex abuse trial

The case was the Vatican’s first criminal trial for such allegations.

10.6k

Oct 6th 2021, 1:13 PM

# France

330,000 children victims of church sex abuse in France, report estimates

The report said an estimated 3,000 child abusers – two-thirds of them priests – have worked in the church during the past 70 years.

9.6k

Oct 5th 2021, 3:29 PM

# reinhard marx

German cardinal resigns over Church's 'failure' in abuse scandal

Criticising colleagues who “refuse to believe there is a shared responsibility in this respect”, Reinhard Marx said the Church is at “a dead end”.

12.8k

Jun 4th 2021, 12:13 PM

# darknet

German police shut down child abuse online platform with 400,000 members

The platform, named as “Boystown”, had existed since 2019.

29.2k

May 3rd 2021, 3:00 PM

# Central Criminal Court

Dublin man sexually abused daughter over seven year period, court hears

The victim did not realise her father was behind everything until the age of 21.

40.6k

Apr 12th 2021, 8:16 PM

# Courts

Student jailed for 16 months for accessing child abuse images 'of the most depraved nature' online

Albaraa Turkistani was sentenced today.

41.4k

Mar 23rd 2021, 9:31 PM

# Courts

Kerry man jailed for repeated rape of his daughters

Justice Owens imposed 14 years imprisonment and suspended the final two years on strict conditions.

64.3k

Feb 11th 2021, 9:21 PM

# Industrial School

'The brother whipped him until his back was bleeding, then gave him an orange to keep quiet'

Joe McAveety was born in a mother and baby home and grew up in industrial schools which were rife with physical and sexual abuse.

148k

Jan 30th 2021, 10:30 AM

# Child Abuse

'You will be believed': Woman beaten by step-mother for 10 years urges victims to report attackers

Cora Desmond has spoken about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Bridget Kenneally.

27.9k

Nov 18th 2020, 2:51 PM

# Court of Appeal

Retired doctor who abused seven boys loses appeal against conviction

The doctor was jailed for four years in February of last year.

28.8k

Nov 17th 2020, 2:07 PM

Voices

‘Often when a child contacts us, all we hear is quiet sobs’

Sarah Hughes, a Childline volunteer, says some children are trapped in abusive homes during Covid-19.

37.2k

Apr 24th 2020, 7:00 PM

# trapped with tormentors

'A breeding ground for abuse': Children at risk behind the closed doors of Covid-19

The second part of Noteworthy’s investigation into domestic abuse finds vulnerable children are losing out on supports and escape during the pandemic.

31.3k

Apr 21st 2020, 12:05 AM

# Child Abuse

'Isolated at home with their tormentor': Childline experiences increase in calls since closure of schools

The ISPCC said home is not a happy place for all children and they do not have their regular support network in schools anymore.

31.5k

Mar 20th 2020, 6:02 PM

# michael o'brien

'It was now or never': Abuse survivor on why he spoke out on RTÉ programme in 2009

Michael O’Brien created one of the most powerful moments in Irish television, when he passionately told his story on RTÉ in 2009.

36.4k

Mar 4th 2020, 11:11 AM

Voices

Opinion: 'States of Fear' may have caused a seismic shift in Ireland, but more needs to be done

As RTÉ examines the legacy of States of Fear, 21 years on, Sheila Ahern discusses the landmark documentary and the late Mary Raftery, its producer.

20.6k

Updated

Mar 2nd 2020, 2:51 PM

# greater manchester

Police in Manchester apologise to children abused 'in plain sight' by grooming gangs

Greater Manchester Police’s re-launched investigation has identified 53 potential victims.

27.9k

Jan 14th 2020, 10:09 PM

# Safeguarding

Internal Tusla documents reveal staff complained of poor engagement from Scouting Ireland

Early drafts of a letter that caused a row between the agency and Scouting Ireland contained stronger criticism of the organisation than the final version.

14.5k

Dec 15th 2019, 12:05 AM

# Child Abuse

Chair of child abuse inquiry reports "seriously erroneous" figure in commission report

Mr Justice Ryan said the claim that 170,000 were admitted to institutional school is, in fact, closer to 42,000.

9.1k

Nov 26th 2019, 7:48 AM

# Children At Risk in Ireland

There's been an increase in sexual assaults among teens, says Cari

“Choking is a massive issue,” among teenagers, psychotherapist Stella O’Malley told RTÉ’s Today with SOR show.

9.8k

Nov 21st 2019, 10:29 AM

# FGM

'It's a serious form of child abuse': Thousands of girls in Ireland at risk of female genital mutilation

An estimated 6,000 females in Ireland have already undergone the harmful procedure.

25.6k

Oct 23rd 2019, 6:15 AM

Voices

Rodney Edwards: How one brave man walked into our newspaper office to uncover shocking sex abuse cases

The Fermanagh journalist details how he and the victims are exposing wrongdoing and seeking the truth. It is not just his job, but his duty, he writes.

33.4k

Oct 20th 2019, 9:00 PM

# richard huckle

One of Britain’s worst paedophiles stabbed to death in prison

Richard Huckle was given 22 life sentences in 2016 for an unprecedented number of offences against children.

49.0k

Oct 14th 2019, 8:48 PM

# late late

'I thought it was my failing': Former footballer Richie Sadlier reveals he was sexually abused as a child

Appearing on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show, the popular broadcaster said for years he blamed himself for what happened.

68.4k

Oct 5th 2019, 8:24 AM

# message encryption

Facebook warned that new privacy rules could aid terrorism and child abuse

The social media network has been dogged by several privacy scandals in recent years.

11.6k

Oct 4th 2019, 11:37 AM

# charge

Couple accused of child cruelty after daughter (9) suffered serious injuries refused bail

Gardaí launched an investigation and arrested the mother and father, aged in their thirties, last month.

26.7k

Sep 16th 2019, 6:20 PM

# Caranua

Christian Brothers to pay outstanding €6.8 million to redress scheme

The majority of the money will go to the fund, while €429,000 is to be paid to the National Children’s Hospital.

17.7k

Sep 6th 2019, 10:34 PM

# HIQA inspections

Watchdog finds that Tusla failed to alert gardaí to crimes against children in a timely manner

Neglect and sexual abuse were among the suspected crimes that Tusla was slow to report.

14.4k

Aug 14th 2019, 11:28 AM

# Damning

Chelsea staff 'turned blind eye' to sexual abuse

An independent report found that the club’s former chief scout was able to operate ‘unchallenged’, abusing boys in the 1970s.

7.2k

Aug 6th 2019, 3:41 PM

# operation ketch

Gardaí seize 'childlike sex doll' as 14 addresses raided around country

The searches, conducted between Monday and today, were carried out as part of Operation Ketch.

44.0k

Jul 25th 2019, 9:06 PM

# tusla

More than 6,000 physical abuse referrals to child and family agency last year

The most common form of abuse in cases referred to Tusla was emotional abuse.

7.4k

Jun 24th 2019, 6:15 AM

Voices

Opinion: The State's refusal to compensate survivors of abuse violates human rights law

In its efforts to avoid paying compensation to victims, the State has spent €1.5 million on legal fees and re-traumatised some of its most vulnerable citizens, writes Conor O’Mahony.

14.0k

Jun 17th 2019, 7:00 AM

# systemic failures

Taoiseach will act upon report which lists catalogue of failures into HSE and Tusla handling of foster home abuse case

The children involved were left with a foster family for several years despite abuse claims.

6.0k

May 23rd 2019, 4:41 PM

# Catholic Church

Pope issues law requiring Catholic clergy members to report sex abuse - but not to police

The law declares that anyone who has knowledge of abuse is obliged to report it to the Church.

13.9k

May 9th 2019, 11:25 AM

# California

US couple sentenced to life in prison for imprisoning 12 of their children

David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin pleaded guilty.

35.5k

Apr 19th 2019, 8:00 PM

Voices

Opinion: 'I'm not a victim, I am a survivor ... I don’t flinch when someone touches me'

Aicha Dounia was abused by her biological father from the age of four but she refuses to live a life ‘consumed by hatred’.

30.5k

Apr 16th 2019, 7:00 AM