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Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court

Former sports coach (91) jailed for sexually assaulting four young gymnasts over 30 years ago

James O’Reilly was sentenced to 12 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to the offences, which took place between 1990 and 1994.

2.56pm, 25 Jun 2025

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A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE published in February 2007 was the trigger that resulted in former sports coach, James O’Reilly, last week becoming one of the oldest individuals ever sent to prison in Ireland at the age of 91 for sexually assaulting four young gymnasts under his care.

In the interview, the well-known figure in sporting circles in Arklow, Co Wicklow through his role as a Community Games organiser and coach of gymnasts and soccer teams remarked that: “It my firm belief that they (kids) will not come to any wrong if they are involved in sport.”

Reading those words proved the incentive for one of O’Reilly’s victims to report the abuse she suffered from him to gardaí whose subsequent investigation established that her experience was far from being unique.

At a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court last week, the elderly grandfather, who is blind, partially deaf and confined to a wheelchair, was sentenced to 12 months in prison with Judge Terence O’Sullivan branding the nonagenarian as a “sexual predator.”

Last February, O’Reilly – a widower with two adult children from Fernhill, Arklow, Co Wicklow – pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting four young girls in the south Wicklow town over 30 years ago.

The admissions by the Mullingar native and retired painter and decorator – one in relation to each of his four victims – were made in front of a jury of seven women and five men who had been sworn in to hear his trial at Bray Courthouse.

Just 24 hours earlier, O’Reilly had pleaded not guilty before the same jury to a total of eight charges of indecent or sexual assault and one charge of attempted sexual assault at St Mary’s College Sports Hall in Arklow in relation to the same four young females whom he trained.

The offences occurred on dates unknown between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 1994 when the accused ran a club for training gymnasts with his late wife, Sadie, who died in December 2021.

Although he became fully blind in 1996, O’Reilly continued to participate in training and organising competitions for the Community Games – a role he began in 1978 – until he stood down just three years ago.

In a victim impact statement, the woman who reported O’Reilly after seeing his interview in the Irish Independent, said reading it 18 years ago had given her the drive to pursue getting justice.

‘No words to describe level of fear’

She described the article as one which “glorified” O’Reilly and was all about “your great deeds which you have done for the children of Arklow.”

“Every cell in my body was repulsed by this interview,” she told the court.

Addressing O’Reilly she stated: “You were trusted to provide a safe space for me and the other children. You took this power and used it for your own gratification.”

She added: “There are no words to describe the level of fear, embarrassment and shame that I experienced that day.”

“The level of fear when you would enter the girls’ changing rooms – no child should ever have to experience,” she observed.

The woman said 30 years later she still has the same fear of being seen and has to hide away in social situations.

She outlined how she still instinctively folds her arms and covers her chest “to this very day” which she said was the same device she would use to protect herself from O’Reilly as a child.

The court heard that the thought of having to stand up as a witness and give evidence in front of a jury had made her physically ill and she attributed his guilty pleas to “a stroke of divine intervention.”

As a mother now of three young girls, the woman explained how she had repeatedly refused requests from one of her daughters to join her friends in gymnastics.

“In my eyes, once you put on a leotard, you became a target,” she commented.

The woman, who is now in her 40s, said it was only when her own daughter turned nine that she realised the true extent of what O’Reilly had inflicted on her.

She also accused the former coach of robbing her of the joyful experience of parenting because she sensed danger for her own children when there was none because of the sexual abuse she suffered.

“Due to your actions my thoughts were that people in authority did not have good intentions,” she remarked.

‘Trauma never goes away’

In a separate victim impact statement, another woman (42) said the trauma of what happened never goes away.

“I learned to deal with it as a child but I never thought I would carry it through to my adult life,” she remarked.

She added: “No person should ever have to go through that sort of trauma or carry that shame through their life because of the actions of another person.”

Although the woman welcomed the fact that she had got justice for herself and others, she acknowledged that O’Reilly’s age and illnesses would be taken into account in sentencing him.

She continued: “I want to state that my age wasn’t taken into account when he chose to lay his hands on me many years ago.”

Another of O’Reilly’s victims, who was abused when she was about eight, told the court that she had been left “extremely confused, frightened and ashamed” by what he did to her.

The woman said she did not tell any adult about what happened as she did not have the words or understanding at such a young age.

“I knew what O’Reilly had done to me was wrong. I carried the weight of that secret for years,” she added.

The court heard that discovering at 16 that she was not O’Reilly’s only victim caused her both relief and anger.

She continued: “Relief that I wasn’t alone but deep sadness and anger that this had happened to more children; that other adults were aware at the time and that he had been allowed to continue holding positions or respect and influence in our community.”

‘A prolific abuser of children’

The woman said she found it “devastating” when O’Reilly was given a “People of the Millennium” award for his work with children in Arklow.

She told the court that she could still describe to this day what the accused’s hands look like.

“The experience changed the course of my life. It stole a sense of safety, trust and joy that every child deserves,” she added.

She expressed hope that with the court case that O’Reilly’s name could be recorded for what he is – “a prolific abuser of children.”

Speaking after O’Reilly was sentenced to 12 months in prison, one of his victims who had told the court she expected he would not be jailed because of his age said it was hard to see an elderly man being wheeled out of court by prison guards.

However, she added: “That same man was not sorry for what he had done to us. He showed absolutely no remorse.”

The four victims also said they had been let down by others in Arklow who knew what O’Reilly was doing but who chose to protect him rather than vulnerable young children.

“It’s bittersweet. I do feel down as it was widely known within the community. We were just little girls and people chose to turn a blind eye,” said one woman.

“I don’t feel like this is a celebration but we finally got our justice,” she observed.

O’Reilly, who was born on New Year’s Day in 1934, is likely to mark his 92nd birthday in prison.

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james o’reilly
Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court

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