Courts Ruling Allows for Wicklow Child Abuser To Be Named

A former Wicklow hospital groundsman, who was convicted five years ago of the repeated rape of his wife's two sons, can be named for the first time this week after the lifting of a court gagging order.

56 year old Paul Gregory of Lucky brook house, Cronroe in Ashford, pleaded guilty in 2015, to 205 counts of rape and sexual assault of his wife's two sons at his Wicklow home. The victims were under ten years old when the abuse started in 1993 and the attacks continued for a decade. In March 2016 he was sentenced to 21 years in prison, with the final five years suspended. Gregory had previously worked as a groundsman at Newcastle Psychiatric Hospital and was suspended when the allegations first emerged.

At that sentencing, the victims told the court they wished to waive their anonymity so their step-father could be named publicly. However a stay was put on that, to avoid prejudicing other pending cases.  Despite objections from the defendant, the courts have decided this week that his name can be published.