Jurors in the trials of the Dublin firefighter ultimately convicted of rape were not privy to all of the evidence the prosecution sought to introduce, a court heard in a sentencing hearing in Boston, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
Terence Crosbie (39) was found guilty by a jury of six men and six women of raping a sleeping attorney in a room he shared with a colleague, Liam O’Brien, and was sentenced to seven to nine years in prison – exceeding the state’s sentencing guidelines.
In a previous trial, which concluded in June, the jury was hung.
In both trials, state prosecutors attempted to introduce a Tweet Crosbie posted in 2017 on the social media platform now known as X about travel and “unreported rape”. The post was not introduced before jury, but was heard by judge Joshua Wall in pretrial hearing and again before sentencing.
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Crosbie’s father, and his wife and mother of his two daughters, were also present throughout both trials.
After the sentencing hearing, Crosbie’s attorneys stated that Crosbie was in regular contact with his younger brother, former UFC fighter Kiefer Crosbie, who also wrote a letter in support of his brother before sentencing.
In the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Erin Murphy said Crosbie’s 2017 tweet “that the court is aware of from pretrial legation” provides insight into his “extremely dangerous and predatory mindset and it also informs what his intent was”.
In 2017, under the handle of @DubKid86, Terence Crosbie posted about an upcoming football match in Stockholm, Sweden, the court heard.
“6 foot blondes and the most unreported rape capital of Europe sure even if it’s Vigo vs Lyon be worth the trip,” Crosbie wrote, followed by a side-eye emoji, Ms Murphy told the court.
At the time Crosbie authored the post he was a 30-year-old paramedic, Ms Murphy said. “He wore that mantle and walked around as a purportedly safe person,” she told the court.
“To put it bluntly most people in society are against rape, they are anti-rape, and here the defendant publicly posted his own public endorsement of rape and even better if he found the woman attractive and thought he might get away with it,” she said.
“The defendant travelled to Boston and he committed a rape that he likely believed would go unreported because he was outside of his community, he was outside of the place where people would recognise him, and he chose a sleeping stranger,” she argued, asking the court for a nine to twelve year sentence.
Ms Murphy told the court the individuals who submitted more than 80 pages of letters in support of Crosbie’s character, including multiple members of the Dublin fire brigade, only know “one side of the defendant”.
Defence attorney Daniel C Reilly described the social media post as “an eight-year-old tweet that was admittedly detestable but is not reflective of the man he is and has been, which is more accurately captured in those letters”.
Judge Joshua Wall interjected to state that “fortunately” there “are not many people” who would write such a message.
Mr Reilly stated that he “cannot speak to [Crosbie’s] mindset.”
After the hearing and conferring with his client, Mr Reilly told The Irish Times: “Losing the case is a huge disappointment and then to have a sentence that exceeded the guidelines is obviously very disappointing.”
Crosbie is “just trying to wrap his head around” the sentence and what that “looks like in terms of when he might actually be able to get home to his family”.
Crosbie continues to insist he is not guilty, his attorneys said. “I think they sent an innocent man to jail,” defence attorney Patrick Garrity said.
Mr Garrity also said Kiefer Crosbie, who did not attend proceedings, has been “invested the whole time” in his “brother’s wellbeing”.
In a letter to the judge, Kiefer Crosbie wrote his older brother is a “well respected member of our community and has so much support and love from everybody”.
“He is an amazing father,” he wrote. “He is the godfather for one of my children and one of the very few people I would trust wholeheartedly. He is a great man and his kids miss him dearly.”
Among dozens of character references submitted to the court were those written by nurses, primary schoolteachers and members of religious congregations, and Crosbie’s fellow Dublin firefighters.
