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Sligo Father Jailed for 20 Years for Decades of Sexual Abuse of Five Children

The judge called the cruelty “truly shocking”, reducing a 30-year headline term to 20 years.

Overview

  • Farrell, 70, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to abusing four daughters and a son when they were aged three to 17.
  • He initially faced 109 charges but admitted three rapes and 19 indecent or sexual assaults for offences between 1979 and 1997 in Co Sligo.
  • Evidence detailed severe neglect, including children left hungry, locked for days, and forced to drink urine.
  • Four siblings waived anonymity to allow their father to be identified, while a fifth supported naming him without being named.
  • He will be placed on the sex-offender register, with no post-release supervision ordered because he would be extremely elderly on release.