He’s come under fire for his comments…
Eamon Dunphy has said that he was misled over the extent of the crimes committed by Tom Humphries.
He was speaking on The Tonight Show on TV3 on Tuesday night and came in for criticism for comments he made about the case.
He told Ivan Yates and Matt Cooper that he visited Humphries in St. Patrick’s psychiatric hospital following his suicide attempt.
“The story that I heard, through David Walsh in particular, was much more benign than the story that emerged and the evidence that was given,” Dunphy said.
“It was not about grooming. It was more of a question, I was told, of underage sex which is, of course, serious, but he had been a colleague of mine and I went to see him and brought him a book.
“I spent an hour with him because I felt he hadn’t at this stage been charged with anything but I knew this was pending. But I didn’t know the nature of it; I didn’t know anything about grooming, for example. I didn’t know anything about the length of time.
“I thought he would be charged with having sex with an underage girl. I did know there was a connection with the Gaelic club and I did know he was in a position of authority. But the gravity of it I didn’t know,” Dunphy said.
Cooper then asked him how he felt now that he knew the full details of the case.
“What I think now is this is a tragedy for two families. In these tragic circumstances, I think Judge O’Connor was… I think, (she) gave just about the right sentence,” Dunphy said.
“I feel dreadfully sorry for the victim first of all and for all victims.
“And I feel that Tom Humphries’ life is effectively over and has been for many years. He has to live with the shame. His own family he has hurt. He has hurt this girl. I believe that mitigation is part of a criminal justice system and I also believe that redemption is important.”
You catch watch the segment from Tuesday night’s show below…
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