'I needed to have the power to say his name'

Brave Lorita hails 7-year jail sentence for rapist landlord | Survivor tells how she doesn't regret waiving anonymity

- BY CHLOE BARRETT

A WOMAN who was raped by her evil landlord has said she is looking forward to making up for lost time after the brute was jailed last week.

Lorita O'Donoghue, who waived her right to anonymity, broke her silence after Michael Paul O'Leary of Four Winds, Ballyarthur, Fermoy, Co Cork, was jailed for seven years on Friday after being convicted in February.

The trial, which occurred at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork, heard the rape of Lorita occurred in May 2022.

O'Leary had rented a property in Fermoy to Lorita and her fiancé and lived adjacent to them.

On May 28, 2022, O'Leary texted Lorita asking her if she would like to share a drink as he had just opened a bottle of wine.

Having shared a drink, he poured a brandy for her and then kept topping up her glass. Lorita had not consented to the filling up of her glass.

Lorita passed out and when she awoke her clothes had been taken off and the father of three was having sex with her. She tried to push O'Leary off her and told him to stop.

Now Lorita is sharing her story and opening up about her trauma in the hopes that it will help other victims to come forward and report abusers.

Speaking to Cork's 96FM Opinion Line with PJ Coogan, Lorita said she has not regretted going public 'for a minute.