'C CASE' SEX BEAST WANTED FOR RAPE IN NORTH; Wheelchair victim 'too vulnerable to testify'.

Byline: VICTORIA McMAHON

THE evil pervert caged last week in the Republic was wanted for the rape of a wheelchair-bound pensioner in the North, it has emerged.

Simon McGinley, 36, was the chief suspect in the vicious rape of an elderly disabled woman in her home in Belfast between August and November 1997.

Police sources think the "C Case" sex beast fled north after raping a teenage babysitter who became pregnant as a result.

She ended up being taken into care and was backed by social workers to fight - against her parents' wishes - for the legal right to have an abortion in the UK.

Her battle caused a constitutional crisis in the Republic and ultimately led to legal changes.

McGinley, of Latlorcan Court, Monaghan, but originally from Dundalk, was caught by gardai in November 1997.

The then RUC contacted Garda officers in a bid to question him over the vile rape in the North.

Although McGinley was in the frame for the Belfast rape, the case was dropped after police decided the pensioner was so damaged by her ordeal she would be unable to give evidence.

A Garda source said: "The evidence was strong that McGinley carried out this rape in Belfast but securing a conviction would have been difficult.

"This man is one of the most dangerous sexual offenders ever to emerge in this country. He should never be released from prison." McGinley was jailed for 21 years on Wednesday for another attack on an 86-year-old woman in Co Monaghan.

He repeatedly raped the Alzheimer's sufferer after breaking into her home in June last year.

The fiend was originally sentenced to 12 years with four suspended for the repeated rapes that led to the C Case.

Gardai already had information from members of the Traveller community about how dangerous the sexual predator was long before his monstrous attack on the babysitter.

McGinley was named for raping several Traveller women.

He was never convicted as the women were suspicious of the authorities and feared speaking out against him.

After his release from Arbour Hill in 2003 for his "C Case" sentence it is believed he raped a Traveller woman.

She was about to give a formal statement to gardai but changed her mind at the last minute.

McGinley escaped the net to roam free and attack again.

The source added: "It would be commonplace when he would be having a few drinks socially with his friends in halting sites that he would disappear. "All the men would immediately race back to their caravans to see if he was raping their wives. Often he was."He is one of the most dangerous sexual offenders ever in this country GARDA SOURCE

CAPTION(S):

BRUTAL PERVERT