Bottle rape victim describes how man’s personality changed when light turned off

A woman who was raped by a man with a bottle has described how once the light was switched off in the room “his personality completely changed”.

Jonathan ‘Johnny’ Moran, 26, was jailed for eight years after being convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury of section four rape of Bláthnaid Raleigh.

The 26-year-old woman waived her anonymity, saying she did this so women in her position could reach out to her. As many victims of sexual assault don’t go public, Ms Raleigh said she felt very lonely since the attack, which happened in 2019.

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Moran assaulted Ms Raleigh in a garden shed in a rented house in Galway. The woman went back to the house after a night out in the city.

The two had spent the night together amongst a group, who were all from Mullingar. Ms Raleigh said she felt safe and comfortable in the house, until everyone either left or went upstairs, leaving her alone with Moran.

She told RTÉ’s Oliver Callan: “I was comfortable in this situation until a point, until it was me and Johnny downstairs in the house.

“I don’t think I will ever forget it, he switched off the light in the room and it was like with the switch of the light his personality completely changed from this person who was full of chat and very friendly, it wasn’t even flirty, it was general conversation.

“With that light going off a totally different person entered the room and it got very hostile very quickly. The real guy came out.”

Ms Raleigh said watching the CCTV in the courtroom of her leaving the garden shed was like “a horror movie”.

She said: “It was one of the most harrowing things, I was watching it like a horror movie because I know what has happened.”

In the immediate aftermath of the assault, the then 21-year-old went to the bathroom before darting out of the house, leaving her shoes behind.

Ms Raleigh explained: “I went upstairs to the bathroom and could see that I was bleeding, I knew I had to get out of there, but I had no idea where I was. I have no shoes on, and the minute the door closes I fall apart, I start to cry.

“I make a phone call to my boyfriend who is on a J1 and I didn’t speak, I just cried and cried. I came into a built up area and there were people leaving a casino. This girl came up to me and asked if I was okay, and I just told her I can’t find my friends. They sat on a shop window with me, I was shaking.”

A man who was with this girl noticed that something was very wrong, and insisted that she go to a garda station.

She continued: “I never saw them again but I have so much to thank that man for. The guards got into the house by 9am that morning and I got to the sexual assault unit that morning. All because someone said ‘Somethings not right here’.”

Ms Raleigh said her life was “put on hold” for the past five years as she waited for this trial.

She has been waiting to study for her masters, as she wanted the trial to be over so she could fully concentrate on college.

The young woman added that her life has been turned completely upside down by the rape, and she has been unable to enjoy the normal things she used to do like going on nights out.

As Moran is also from Mullingar, she was in constant fear of bumping into him.

Ms Raleigh said: “I was riddled with proper fear, being very afraid. If I forced myself to go out and go into a pub I would have to have my back to a wall to see everyone in the pub, in case he came in. I would also be so anxious it would happen to someone else. I would look at every guy talking to a girl, every girl leaving a pub on her own, getting into a taxi on her own, I was petrified that something was going to happen that I could stop.”

The Mullingar native’s two brothers played for the same rugby club as Moran. While one had since moved to London, the other was still in the club.

Ms Raleigh explained how after the attack he had to move to a neighbouring club, and he received grief from his teammates as they didn’t know why he jumped ship.

She added: “The lads had played in the club since under 6s. My family were rooted in this club and he had to slip away quietly. He played a match in recent months and Johnny was playing against him.”

Now that Moran has been convicted, the young woman said she finally believes that she can deal with it.

She said: “When I got the verdict, it gave me the validation that I can deal with this, because he walked around in his life. We had to watch him continuing to play for the local rugby club, you’d open Instagram and there’d be a post celebrating him on 100 caps and pictures of him playing matches and socialising.

“And your life has totally changed, everything you’ve known has been taken away from you.”

If you have been affected by the contents of this article, you can contact the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on their 24-hour helpline on 1800 77 8888 or visit drcc.ie.

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