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Victim support groups warning as Cratloe rapist granted early release.
THE early release of a man convicted in a vicious gang rape in Clare will discourage victims from prosecuting rapists, it has been claimed.
Rapist Dean Barry was jailed for nine years in 2004 for being one of a gang of five who raped a woman and seriously assaulted her boyfriend in Cratloe Woods.
He is the third member of the rape gang to be released from prison and was given the nine year sentence after the court was told he represented “a continuing danger to others”.
In a vicious hour-long assault, the woman was repeatedly raped while her boyfriend was locked in the boot of the car. The gang threatened to burn him alive and cut him up if she resisted. The man eventually escaped, grabbed one of the gang and held him until gardaí arrived but he had to later have plastic surgery for his injuries.
The woman gave evidence to the sentencing hearing of “desperate, despairing days” after the ordeal.
Supt John Kerin, who led the investigation said he had never come across a case of such violence in his 27 years service.
“The acts perpetrated on both victims were unbelievable,” he said.
Barry had the last year of his sentence suspended and was given early release last Wednesday.
Ingrid Wallace of the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre, which also operates for victims in Clare, said freeing him will leave many victims in despair.
“When victims see rapists getting early release or short sentences they say why bother prosecuting. They feel they are not getting justice. As it is, only 10 per cent of rape survivors go through with a prosecution and that’s never going to change while rapists are given these concessions.”
The Rape Crisis Centre has long campaigned for consistency in sentencing. “The maximum sentence is life in prison but that is rarely handed down. For the victim, it’s a life sentence,” said Ms Wallace.
A spokeswoman for the Galway based Rape Crisis Network said the question that must be asked is “are we safe now? How are we to ensure that this man is reformed?”
Barry - who lives in Garryglass Avenue in Ballinacurra Weston in Limerick - will have to sign on the sex offenders register.
The gang, who had more than 100 convictions between them, were given sentences ranging from four years to 21 years.
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