Cork woman abused by stepmother hopes others may find the courage to speak up

A young woman in Co Cork who suffered years of abuse at the hands of her stepmother has spoken about her ordeal.

Cora Desmond was systematically beaten and tortured by her father’s partner, who made fun of her as a kind of Cinderella.

Yesterday, at the Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Bridget Kenneally, of 19 The Green, Duncoran, Youghal, Co Cork, was sentenced to two years in prison on a charge of assault causing harm to Cora Desmond, then 10 years old. , in October 2009 at 7 Kenny’s Lane, Youghal.

The court heard how Ms. Desmond was abused by her mother for 11 years and was regularly beaten with implements including a poker, spatula, wooden spoon, a set of hinges, and a piece of Hoover pipe.

Speaking to Opinion Line with PJ Coogan on 96fm this morning, Ms. Desmond said she was “quite shocked” that her stepmother was sentenced because she “never thought that [Bridget Kenneally] he would leave and serve time ”.

Ms. Desmond said she hoped the custodial sentence would be a jerk on the wrist, ”as the complaints relate to events that occurred so long ago and she was not aware of the medical evidence available when she first filed the complaint. .

She described the abuse that started when she was six years old and said it got worse and worse as she got older. “It just started with the strange kind of slapping and punching here and there and it got worse and worse as the days went by.”

Ms. Desmond said she was singled out because she was the youngest of the children living in the home. “My sister got it, it wasn’t just me, but I was the easiest target,” he said.

Intimidated by her stepmother not to speak, Ms. Desmond has described how she lived in fear as a child and would be separated from her father and biological sister. “It was scary from what I can remember, it was just the constant threats of, ‘Don’t tell anyone because no one will believe you and you will go to foster care and you will never see your sister or your dad,” he said. .

As she was very young when the abuse started, Ms. Desmond said she considered it normal until she spoke with a friend from elementary school. She was left confused because other parents did not hit their children.

“I couldn’t understand it. They told me I deserved it, I said it was my fault and I got what I was meant to get.

Finally, when she was 16, Ms. Desmond spoke with her biological mother about the ordeal. “I broke down one night and said, ‘I can’t do this anymore,'” he said.

With the help of her mother, Ms. Desmond reported the abuse to the Gardaí, who then reported the abuse to her father a week later. At the time, Ms. Desmond feared for her life living with her stepmother.

“Does she know what I’m telling her?” Mrs. Desmond wondered. “I didn’t know what he was capable of. Could he really kill me? Could he really do so much damage that I ended up dead? What else could he do?”

Ms. Desmond said the process that led to yesterday’s sentencing was a long time coming, but she hopes to help others speak.

“If I help a person escape torture and be free, it is something. It is difficult to speak, but it is what I hope to achieve by speaking, ”he said.

Praising the Gardaí in Youghal for their help, Ms. Desmond said she looks forward to moving on with her life and is grateful for the support of her friends and family.

“It has been difficult, but I have an incredible family and group of friends around me, and the councilors and An Garda Siochána in the city have been incredible.”

However, she does not accept her stepmother’s apology for the abuse she suffered at her hands for 11 years in her childhood home.

“I know her and I know her way of living with her for 11 years. This is her just trying to please the court. And say, ‘Well, I’m apologizing, I’m sorry,'” he said. .

“It’s easy to say that I accept your apology, go ahead. But at the end of the day, she is thinking that I have forgiven her, but I need her to know that I will never forgive her for what she has done, “he said.