Woman tells court of 'brutalisation' at hands of ex-Olympic swim coach

A man has been convicted at the Central Criminal Court of raping and sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in Cavan during the late 1980s. Derry O'Rourke, aged 78, of Virginia Road, Cavan, was found guilty of one count of rape and eleven counts of indecent assault following a six-day trial. The offences occurred between October 1989 and June 1990 when the complainant was aged thirteen to fourteen years old. O'Rourke, a former Olympic swimming coach, had pleaded not guilty to one rape charge and fifteen indecent assault charges. The court heard he singled the girl out during school swimming sessions and subjected her to abuse under the guise of conducting muscle checks in a room adjoining the pool, before raping her in a boiler room in September 1990. At sentencing hearing, the now forty-eight-year-old victim delivered an impact statement describing the "brutalisation" she suffered and its lasting effects on her life. Justice Melanie Greally remanded O'Rourke in custody pending sentencing. The prosecution submitted the case warrants a sentence of between fifteen years and life imprisonment.