A paramedic who raped a vulnerable young woman 40 years ago has been jailed for eight and a half years.
Despite being found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court, John Joseph Devaney, of Clonberne, Ballinasloe, Galway, continues to maintain his innocence.
John Joseph Devaney was 26 years old when he raped and sexually assaulted the then 24 year old woman on a date sometime between September and November 1985.
After pulling up beside her as she was walking her dog in a rural location, his trial heard how he pulled her into his van and brought her back to his caravan.
It was there that the attack happened.
The survivor, who is deaf, followed the court proceedings with the help of sign language interpreters.
In her victim impact statement, she described Devaney as “bad.”
She said she felt “scared, sick, dirty, confused, embarrassed, and sad” afterwards.
Devaney refuses to accept the jury’s verdict and still maintains his innocence.
