Sexual Garda predator was investigated bribes and not prosecuted by DPP? Nothing from RTE?
Garda John Egan jailed for sexual assault was investigated over alleged €10k immigration bribes
RTE? Nothing again
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/garda-jailed-for-sexual-assault-was-investigated-over-alleged-10k-immigration-bribes/a1046714354.html
Garda jailed earlier this month for the sexual assault and harassment of two women was previously the subject of a high-level immigration fraud probe, the Sunday Independent can reveal.
On March 8, Judge Kenneth Connolly at Roscommon Circuit Court convicted John Egan (61) of sexually assaulting a woman at Castlerea garda station on St Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2015, while he was working there as an immigration officer.
The former garda was also convicted of harassing the same victim at various locations across the county on dates between February 15 and December 31, 2015.
Egan, with an address at Drum, Knock, Co Mayo, was convicted of harassing a second woman on dates between June 1, 2014, and March 4, 2017.
Judge Connolly sentenced him to two years and six months for sexually assaulting one of the women and a further two years in prison for harassing her. These sentences are to run concurrently. Egan was given a one-year-and-nine-months consecutive sentence for harassing the other woman.
Investigators suspect a garda was involved in the high-level immigration fraud
It is understood the former garda was investigated as part of a separate garda probe into bribes being paid to give more than 100 foreign nationals permission to stay in Ireland illegally.
The Sunday Independent understands gardaí suspect a large number of men and women from Pakistan and India paid €10,000 each to have a garda stamp a form, stating they had shown the necessary documents which granted them the right to work here and claim benefits.
Officers suspect a member of the force was in league with a Pakistani “fixer” in the high-level immigration fraud.
The man organised busloads of his fellow countrymen to travel to a garda station, where, it was alleged, an officer would stamp the documents.
The men and women involved had entered Ireland legally on student visas, and when those expired they should not have been permitted to remain, sources said.
There are also concerns within An Garda Síochána that the scam allowed criminal elements to arrive here and “disappear”.
This high-level immigration scam allegedly went on for more than six years and detectives have established that well over 100 people were granted work permits to remain in Ireland when they should not have been permitted to do so.
It is understood gardaí tried to track down all the people who were granted status to remain here, but many had “disappeared”.
The investigation was led by local detectives, but the Garda National Immigration Bureau was also involved in the extensive probe.
It is understood Egan was taken in for questioning in 2017. A garda file in relation to this alleged crime was later sent to the DPP but no prosecution was directed in the “complex” case.
Egan’s recent sentencing heard that part of his duties included meeting non-EU nationals in assisting with their visa applications.
The garda had interacted with the two victims on several occasions at the garda station, when they had sought assistance with their passports and visa applications.
On one occasion, one of the women went to see him about her visa application, and she made him aware that she no longer had a partner after he asked.
He told her to come to his office in the garda station. When she got there, he closed and locked the door and sexually assaulted her.
‘He would always lock the door every time I had to go there. He made me feel dirty’
The court also heard he would sometimes park outside her home and remain there for some time.
The garda also told her not to tell anyone about what was going on. He told the other victim on numerous occasions that “he wanted to have some fun” — which she took to mean that he wanted to have sex.
Egan was eventually arrested and charged with the offences in December 2021.
In victim impact statements read out to the court, both women spoke of how Egan’s behaviour had affected them emotionally, physically and mentally.
One of the victims said she felt “sad, ashamed and violated”, and he had “preyed on my vulnerability and abused his power”.
In her statement the other woman said she felt very uncomfortable when he sent her sexual messages and felt horrible when she went to his office.
“He would always lock the door every time I had to go there,” she said, adding: “He made me feel dirty.”
She did not think people would believe her, and said: “To me, he was a person of power who everyone seemed to like.”
Egan took the witness stand and “sincerely apologised for the pain and trauma” he had caused the two women.
He said his actions were “unforgivable”, and apologised to An Garda Síochána and his own family.
Nothing from RTE?
Comments
Post a Comment