WIDNES PENSIONERS WALTER MURPHY AND JAMES REILLY SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE IN WARRINGTON

In August 2008, two elderly men from Widnes were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after being found guilty of repeatedly abusing young girls. Seventy-year-old Walter Murphy, from Avondale Drive, Widnes, received a seven-year sentence, while his 75-year-old accomplice James Reilly, of Hargreaves Court, Widnes, was sentenced to two years at Warrington Crown Court.

The court was told that Murphy began acting inappropriately towards a girl when she was just 10 years old. Subsequently, he also started abusing another girl who was also ten at the time. Murphy pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offences, including rape, indecent assault, and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

The abuse continued at Reilly’s home, where both men would play card games with the girls, during which they imposed perverse sexual forfeits. Afterward, they would give the girls money or mobile phone top-up vouchers as a way to pressure them into silence.

The disturbing details of the abuse only emerged when the older girl began to confide in her mother. A poignant statement from her described the profound effect the assaults had on her emotional health: “I feel like a cheap prostitute, like I’ve got nothing to live for anymore because of everything that has happened. I’ve got no confidence, no self-esteem, nothing.”

Judge David Hale delivered the sentences, stating, “These girls thought the world of you but you took advantage of that to abuse them. I’m perfectly satisfied that if it weren’t for you, Mr Reilly wouldn’t be here (in court) now.” To Murphy, he added, “These girls thought the world of you but you took advantage of that to abuse them. I’m perfectly satisfied that if it weren’t for you, Mr Reilly wouldn’t be here (in court) now.”

Reilly was ordered to remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years, while Murphy’s registration will be lifelong.