Thomas Howard, the 79-year-old former GAA referee from Old Kilcullen, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison at Tullamore Circuit Court.
Kildare woman Maeve Leahy says carrying the abuse she suffered as a child “consumed” her - and that after decades of living around a “secret,” she could “no longer carry it.”
Ms Leahy, now 46, said she finally came forward because the years of abuse by her uncle Thomas Howard had been “destroying” her.
Speaking on national radio, she said she had been inspired by reading other survivors’ stories, and that as family members passed away “the wall got weaker.”
She described how she “learned to live" her life around that "secret,” confiding in only a few people and never going into detail.
She said she had a “great childhood” and a loving family, but the shadow of the abuse always hung over her.
Recalling the assaults, she said she remembers “how confused” she was, knowing “something was not right.”
Her uncle, Thomas Howard, was a prominent community figure whom everyone “looked up to,” and she says she trusted him.
The abuse began when she was just three or four years old and continued until she reached puberty.
Howard told her it was a “secret,” she said, and she was manipulated and “didn’t know any different.”
The 79-year-old former GAA referee from Old Kilcullen was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison at Tullamore Circuit Court.
Maeve Leahy says speaking out has ended decades of silence that defined her life.
She said it all came to a head after her brother's wedding when everything "just got on top" of her.
Howard was at Ms Leahy's own wedding and she learned to "be around him" and not say anything but that changed in the past three years.
Her doctor sent her in the "right direction" and Maeve decided to pursue criminal proceedings six months after she started counselling sessions.
Ms Leahy will be on Kildare Today on Monday morning.
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