A former Irish soldier from Derry has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for raping a woman. Kielan Mooney, 30, was found guilty of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by Dublin’s Central Criminal Court last December. The woman stated in her impact statement that Mooney’s actions had left her feeling suicidal and had a serious impact on her mental health. The judge refused to suspend any portion of Mooney’s sentence after two former partners contradicted the testimonials given in his favour at a sentencing hearing.
Mitigating factors were supplied to the court by way of affidavits that were given as character references for Mooney. The affidavits were supplied by relatives and friends, with some describing Mooney as a good father to his five children. One of the mothers, however, stated that after they had broken up, Mooney did not maintain any contact with them; another said her two children had not seen their father in two years. She added that he had never paid child maintenance and was “not a great father.”
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said there had been an attempt to “mislead” him and that he did not take kindly to such actions. He added that his duties as a father had been “grossly overstated.” The judge cited the new information surrounding Mooney’s relationship with his children and decided not to suspend any portion of the sentence. He stated that “it is quite clear in her demeanor in the aftermath, what happened was radically wrong,” referring to the victim, and that Mooney had shown no sign of regret or acknowledgement of the conviction to the court.
During the trial, two women, who have four children with Mooney, supplied statements to the court stating that their children had no contact with Mooney and hadn’t for quite some time. Their statements were the same the judge noted, with the thrust being that Mooney had had no meaningful or positive contact with these children over a long period of time
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