Donegal man convicted of sexually abusing five boys over 14-year period 

A Newtowncunningham man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting five young boys over a 14-year period.

Martin Joseph, known as ‘Joe’, Cullen, 63, was found guilty of seven counts of sexual assault on various dates between 1993 and 2007 at locations in County Donegal.

Cullen, a former scout leader from Colehill, Newtowncunningham, had denied assaulting the boys during a trial that lasted five days at Letterkenny Circuit Court. The assaults were not during the course of his role as a scout leader.

A jury of six men and six women took under two hours of deliberation to find the accused man guilty on all seven counts against him.

Cullen remained emotionless in the dock while his victims and their families cried and hugged each other at the back of courtroom number 1 at Letterkenny courthouse as each verdict was read out.

All of the seven charges were contrary to section 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act, 1990 as amended by section 37 of the Sexual Offenders Act, 2001. Cullen had pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned. 

Cullen was accused of touching the boys’ genitals and buttocks while he was also charged with showing some of the boys pornography on a phone and causing them to believe that he was likely to be subjected to such an impact. Some of the incidents occurred while he was engaged in various activities with the boys 

One of the complainants alleged that he was ‘about seven or eight years’ old when Cullen was teaching him to play a game. 

The defendant was alleged to have reached down the boy’s trousers before touching his genitals.

The victim said he remembered Cullen telling him that he would buy him something new and this comment “was something that stuck with me for years”.

After the incident, Cullen was said to have “just fixed himself up and left” after hearing a door closing nearby.

Another of the victims told how Cullen would shake hands tightly with them until they would say “I am your friend.”

Martin Joseph, known as ‘Joe’ Cullen at Letterkenny Circuit Court. (North West Newspix) 

Some of the complaints said they were between eight years old and 13 years old when Cullen showed them pornography on an old Nokia phone. He would then ask them if they were ‘hard’ before reaching for their private areas.

The witnesses told how it was only in later years that each discovered they had been sexually assaulted at various times by Cullen.

The trial also heard from retired Garda John Harkin, who outlined his attendance at the address of the accused and photographs collated from the site, as well as some family members of complainants.

The mother of one of the victims told the court that when the incidents were disclosed, she did not tell her husband as he would have “gone mad.” She said she also kept the incidents to herself as she did not think other people would believe them.

One mother said that her son informed her that Cullen had touched his penis over his trousers after showing him pornography on his phone as well as “researching for him.” The woman said she also did not tell anyone what her son had told her as she felt they were now old enough and that Cullen would not prey on them again.

Barrister for Cullen, Mr James McGowan, SC, with Peter Nolan, BL and instructed by solicitor, Mr Donough Cleary, asked the woman why she did not tell anyone that her son had been assaulted by Cullen. She replied that she didn’t tell anyone because she also felt sorry for Cullen’s family.

She added that she simply didn’t know what to do but that perhaps she should have gone to the authorities.

She said: “I was hoping somebody else would tell but that it wouldn’t have to be me.”

A sibling of a victim told how Cullen would always have been “touchy, feely” but that she didn’t realise at the time that it was wrong and always thought he was just a “big child”. She said that she was not personally making a complaint against the accused as she did not remember anything specific happening to her.

Another complainant recalled he was between 11 years and 13 years old when he awoke to find Cullen in a bedroom he was staying in. The accused, who was holding his own child in his arms at the time, had his hand on his penis and as the boy awoke fully, Cullen took his hands away.

On another occasion, the boy was sleeping on a sofa but had wrapped himself tightly in a duvet to prevent being touched again by Cullen. However, Cullen managed to get his hand inside the duvet to touch his privates.

Detective Gardai Bobby Carey and Eoin Waters. (North West Newspix)

The man later told his mother and in 2017 made an official complaint to Gardai.

Cullen was first arrested at his home in December 2017 for an offence under the Criminal Law Rape Amendment Act for sexual assault and questioned a number of times about the allegations.

The investigation was conducted by Detective Garda Bobby Carey and his colleague Detective Garda Eoin Waters.

During all interviews, Cullen denied that anything had happened with any of the complainants.

At one stage, Cullen said the accusations were false and he told the detectives: “I refuse to answer questions that I know nothing about.”

Both counsel for the state, Ms Fiona Crawford, BL, and counsel for Cullen, Mr McGowan, addressed the jury of six men and six women.

Ms Crawford told the jury that this was a case of five young men outlining to strangers what had happened to them many years ago at a time when they never thought they would be big enough or brave enough to make such a complaint.

Mr McGowan asked the jury to decide how reliable were the accounts of any of the witnesses in the case now up to 25 years later pointing to changes in their stories.

Judge Roderick Maguire read his charge to the jury in the case and directed them to go away and deliberate.

Exactly one hour and 38 minutes later, the jury returned and said they had reached a verdict.

They found the accused guilty on all seven counts.

Judge Maguire remanded Cullen in custody for sentencing until the next sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court in October.

He extended the legal aid certificate to allow for both a psychological and psychiatric report to be carried out on the accused.

Cullen was led away to holding cells by prison officers while his victims and their families emotionally hugged each other and cried at the back of the courtroom.