A developer who raped a Brazilian woman he had asked to clean his house in Tipperary has been sentenced to seven and a half years after a judge said he couldn't ‘buy himself out’ of a custodial sentence.
Father-of-four Thomas Egan of Cahermurphy, Kilmihil, Co. Clare paid over 10,000 euro in court to be forwarded to his victim, who has since returned to Brazil.
He was convicted last May by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of raping the 23 year-old woman at a house in Tipperary on July 5th, 2010.
He had denied the charge and told Gardaí he had sex with the woman but it was consensual and that she had not shown any fear.
Mr Justice Barry White suspended the final three and a half years of the sentence, noting that the 47 year old had a previous 'unblemished record' apart from a minor road traffic offence.
