MULLINGAR MAN JAILED FOR RAPE AFTER GALWAY ARTS FESTIVAL
A woman who chose to waive her anonymity so that her rapist could be named has said she takes “great comfort” from the fact that people now know what her assailant did.Bláthnaid Raleigh, from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, was speaking outside the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin after Jonathan (Johnny) Moran, of Tower View, Mullingar, was sentenced to nine years in prison, with the final year suspended, at the Central Criminal Court for raping her in Galway in 2019.
She said that in the period after the attack Moran, who had pleaded not guilty, “walked around locally, with his head held high, and continued to play rugby and socialised in his rugby club and continued with his job.” Ms Raleigh said people now know exactly what “he was hiding during that time, when I was locked away, not doing anything, totally isolated in the aftermath, and that brings me great comfort.” She added that Moran’s life had “continued to be completely normal” while her own had been “completely shattered” with everything she knew and loved taken away.
Raleigh was 21 when she was raped by Moran after meeting him at the Galway Arts Festival and going back with others to a house where he was staying.
Moran, who played rugby in the club in Mullingar with Raleigh’s brothers and was known to her, took her outside to a shed where the assault occurred, during which Moran used a bottle.
She decided to waive her right to anonymity because she believed it might help others or provide comfort, saying “they could say, ‘she’s like me, or looks like me, or has the same kind of lifestyle as me’.” Raleigh emphasized the importance of society knowing Moran’s name, pointing out that “This guy was young, he was 21 at the time, like any of our peers, and I think as a society we have to look at that, that it is not so far away, that these crimes are happening in our locality, that they are young people as well… younger people can’t acknowledge the fact that these crimes are happening within their circles as well.” During Moran’s sentencing, Mr Justice Tony Hunt highlighted the importance of consent, which Raleigh later said was “a massive issue among younger people.” She expressed her belief that education on consent is insufficient, stating, “I don’t think we are so highly educated on consent,” and that some individuals are simply “just bad.” For her, the key aspect of the sentence was that it validated her experience and meant Moran could no longer avoid facing what he had done.
She said, “Sometimes you think, was it that bad?
Why can’t I move on from this?” but the sentence confirmed that what happened was significant.
She concluded that “You get comfort from that.”
