Alleged IRA member Marley sentenced to seven years for rape of two boys

An alleged IRA member has been sentenced to a total of seven years in jail for raping and sexually assaulting two teenage boys in the early 1990s in what was described as a “republican safe house”.

Seamus Marley, originally from the Ardoyne area of Belfast, but with an address at Belfield Court, Stillorgan Road in Dublin, was found guilty by a jury in March of six counts of sexual assault and two counts of rape.

The 45-year-old had denied the allegations during his trial at the Central Criminal Court.

During a six-day trial in March, the court heard Marley stayed a number of times in a house owned by a “dedicated republican”, which began to be used as a safe house for IRA volunteers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In a victim impact statement earlier this week, one of the victims said Marley began abusing him when he was just 13 or 14.

He said he did not think anyone would believe him if he complained.

He said in later years, when he rang someone from Sinn Féin to try to get the help he needed, he knew he was on his own.

The second man, in his victim impact statement on Monday, told the court he had been abused by Marley, beginning when he was 17 years old.

He said Marley told him he could be found dead on a border road if he told anyone about the abuse.

He said: “This is my life and I’m taking it back.”

Sentencing Marley, the judge said he had taken into consideration a number of aggravating factors, including that the two victims were teenagers at the time.

He said he also considered a number of mitigating factors, including that Marley has no previous convictions and testimonials describing him as “an active and dedicated Christian” who was involved in voluntary work.

The judge handed down a number of consecutive and concurrent prison terms for the offences, totaling seven years.

He said there were no grounds for suspending any part of the sentence.

Mr Justice McDermott also ordered that Marley undergo two years of post-release supervision and not have any contact with the victims.

Marley gave no reaction and made no comment when the sentences were handed down.