THOMAS WATERS FROM CO CLARE SENTENCED FOR ABUSE IN ENNIS COURT

In a harrowing case heard at Ennis Circuit Court, Thomas Waters, a 68-year-old man from Moore Street, Kilrush, Co Clare, was convicted of a series of disturbing sexual offenses against a young boy. The court was informed that Waters had subjected the boy, who was between 9 and 11 years old at the time, to weekly acts of abuse spanning from January 1979 to May 31, 1981. The details of the case revealed a chilling threat made by Waters, who told the young victim that if he wished the abuse to cease, his younger brother would have to take his place as the next victim.

Judge Carroll Moran sentenced Waters to two years in prison for his crimes. Waters had previously pleaded guilty to 10 counts of indecent assault related to the same boy. This sentencing marks the fifth time Waters has appeared before the courts concerning allegations of abuse. Currently, he is serving a four-year sentence for abusing three former members of the Ennis judo club, highlighting a long history of criminal conduct.

In 2006, Waters managed to avoid jail time by paying a total of €60,000 to two other victims in court. His first conviction for indecent assault occurred in 1982 at Ennis District Court, where he received a Probation Act sentence. The recent case was prosecuted by Stephen Coughlan, who detailed that the victim had asked Waters to stop the abuse, to which Waters responded that he would only cease if the boy’s younger brother was also victimized. Sergeant Catriona Houlihan, who provided evidence in the case, confirmed Waters’s response, stating that the boy was utterly horrified and, in his naivety, even nominated other boys from the judo club in an attempt to protect himself and his brother from Waters.

The victim, who was coached by Waters in judo, came forward with his complaint in November 2011. In a heartfelt victim impact statement, he expressed the lasting trauma caused by Waters’s actions, stating, “I was sexually assaulted by Thomas Waters from the age of 9 to 11-and-a-half years of age… I did not understand that what he was doing to me in those times was so wrong that when I was asked by my parents if he was sexually abusing me, I adamantly said no. I today have deep feelings of guilt and shame that I did not tell the truth and I strongly believe today that if I did that other children may not have been abused.” The victim also emphasized that any apology from Waters now would be considered a gross insult.

Defending Waters, Mark Nicholas described the offenses as “despicable, horrible and depraved.” Judge Moran concluded that the two-year sentence would run consecutively to Waters’s current incarceration, which is set to end in February 2014, ensuring that Waters remains behind bars for a significant period due to the severity and repeated nature of his crimes.