{{short description|Irish journalist}} {{about|an Irish sports journalist|the American university professor|Tom L. Humphries}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Tom Humphries | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = London, United Kingdom | other_names = | known_for = | education = [[St. Joseph's Secondary C.B.S., Fairview]]<br>[[University College Dublin]] | employer = | occupation = Former sports journalist | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | criminal_status = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Tom Humphries''' is a former [[Sports journalism|sports journalist]] and columnist who wrote for ''[[The Irish Times]]'' while volunteering at a North Dublin [[Gaelic games]] club. His career as a leading sportswriter was ended after his history of child sexual abuse emerged in 2011. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to a number of child sex offences and received a {{frac|2|1|2}} year imprisonment sentence.<ref name=Mirror_07032017/><ref name=II_24102017>{{cite news |last=Phelan |first=Shane |title=Former journalist Tom Humphries jailed for two and a half years for the defilement of a child |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/former-journalist-tom-humphries-jailed-for-twoandahalf-years-for-the-defilement-of-a-child-36257041.html |newspaper=[[Irish Independent]] |date=24 October 2017 |access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref> Maeve Sheehan, writing in the ''[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]]'', noted as his prison sentence concluded in 2019: "As one of the few sex offenders who was famous before he went to prison, his crimes ensure his name will stay on the public radar for years to come. But as the paedophile, not the writer".<ref name=sheehan_04082019/>
==Early life== Humphries was born in London<ref name=townhouse>{{cite web |title=Author biography |url=http://www.townhouse.ie/ecom2/library3.nsf/CatalogByCategory/C6D09843D54EBEB980256DD6003B5A08!OpenDocument |work=In Irish Books Online – TownHouse Dublin, Ireland |access-date=20 July 2006 |archive-date=6 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506044512/http://www.townhouse.ie/ecom2/Library3.nsf/CatalogByCategory/C6D09843D54EBEB980256DD6003B5A08!OpenDocument |url-status=dead }}</ref> and grew up in Foxfield, [[Raheny]], in Dublin. He was educated at St Joseph's Christian Brothers School in [[Fairview, Dublin|Fairview]]. He has a [[Bachelor of Commerce]] degree and a [[Higher Diploma]] in Education from [[University College Dublin]] (UCD). He ran unsuccessfully for the office of President of the [[University College Dublin Students' Union|UCD Student Union]] in 1986; Ulick Stafford defeated him.
==''The Irish Times''== Humphries began writing columns for ''[[The Irish Times]]'' during the early 1990s.<ref name=sheehan_04082019/> His writings contained references to "the cunning of paedophiles" and of sport as "a fine feeding ground for those few sick minds who prey on kids".<ref name=sheehan_04082019/>
He was for many years a regular among children at a North Dublin [[Gaelic games]] club.<ref name=sheehan_04082019/>
Besides his regular sports reporting and feature articles, Humphries wrote a Monday column in ''The Irish Times'' called "Locker Room".
A collection of his writings for ''The Irish Times'' and ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' was published in 2004 as ''Booked!'' and was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. The book's royalties went to [[Amnesty International]].
==Roy Keane interview== Humphries received international attention in May 2002 for his interview with Irish footballer [[Roy Keane]] on the island of [[Saipan]], during the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|national football team]]'s preparation to take part in the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]]. Originally, Humphries planned to write an article based on the interview,{{citation needed|date=March 2012}} but Keane's openly critical remarks about preparations for the World Cup and the attitudes of the team management, the players, and the [[Football Association of Ireland]], led to the interview appearing as a verbatim transcript on the front page of ''The Irish Times'' (an almost unheard of action){{citation needed|date=March 2012}} and continuing inside the newspaper. The [[Saipan incident|resulting furore]] caused Keane to resign from the squad before the tournament started, and he was also dismissed by the team manager, [[Mick McCarthy]].
==Niall Quinn book== Humphries was the [[ghost writer]] of Irish football player [[Niall Quinn]]'s autobiography, ''Niall Quinn – The Autobiography'', published in 2002. It won the Best Autobiography category in the inaugural [[British Sports Book Awards]],<ref>[https://sportsbookawards.com/previous-winners/ British Sports Book Awards], official website.</ref> and was nominated for a [[William Hill Sports Book of the Year]] award.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} The book is not structured chronologically, but rather in the context of Quinn's career swansong, the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
==Gaelic games== Humphries volunteered at a North Dublin [[Gaelic games]] club.<ref name=sheehan_04082019/>
His first book, ''Green Fields: Gaelic Sport in Ireland'', analysed the importance of the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] in Ireland, a recurring theme of his work.
His book ''Dublin V Kerry'' gave an account of historic clashes between the two dominant teams in [[Gaelic football]] of the mid-to-late 1970s.
===Collaboration with Donal Óg Cusack=== Humphries co-wrote ''Come What May'', the autobiography of the openly gay [[Hurling|hurler]] [[Donal Óg Cusack]]. It won the [[William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year]]. Tony Kenny, PR Manager for William Hill, said at the time: "Donal Og's book is an excellently told story of ... someone who wasn't afraid to put themselves forward as a role model to many in sport and life not just in Ireland but across the world."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gay-gaa-stars-autobiography-wins-award-1963417.html|title=Gay GAA star's autobiography wins award|newspaper=[[Irish Independent]]|date=3 December 2009|access-date=3 December 2009}}</ref>
==Sexual abuse conviction== In 2011, Humphries's child sex abuse came to light when his daughter discovered messages of a sexual nature on an old mobile phone of Humphries; the messages were exchanged between Humphries and a 14-year-old girl with an [[eating disorder]] who played at the North Dublin [[Gaelic games]] club with which Humphries volunteered.<ref name=sheehan_04082019/> This led to a police investigation that eventually revealed that Humphries had sent the girl thousands of sexually-explicit texts before going on to meet her for sexual acts.<ref name=RTE_24102017/> Humphries subsequently spent a year in a psychiatric facility, before being arrested in September 2012.<ref name=IT_24102017>{{cite news|first=Conor|last=Gallagher|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/tom-humphries-jailed-for-2-years-for-grooming-and-sexual-abuse-of-girl-1.3266856|title=Tom Humphries jailed for 2½ years for grooming and sexual abuse of girl: Former sports writer exchanged at least 16,000 text messages with girl|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=24 October 2017|access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref> He was charged in March 2014.<ref name=IT_24102017/> He had not written for ''The Irish Times'' since 2011, but was formally suspended after being charged.<ref name=IT_24102017/>
In March 2017, Humphries pleaded guilty to two counts of defilement of a child and four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit, obscene or indecent act.<ref name=Mirror_07032017>{{cite news|first=Pat|last=Flanagan|url=http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/top-sports-journalist-tom-humphries-9984252|title=Top sports journalist Tom Humphries pleads guilty to six child sex offences: The 53-year-old admitted engaging in sexual acts with the girl and exploiting her by inviting her to participate in sexual acts|newspaper=[[Daily Mirror|Irish Mirror]]|date=7 March 2017|access-date=7 March 2017}}</ref> ''The Irish Times'' terminated his employment after his guilty plea.<ref name=IT_24102017/> Reporting restrictions on the case had been in place until June 2017; they were lifted after three charges involving another girl were dropped.<ref>{{cite news|first=Conor|last=Gallagher|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/tom-humphries-faces-up-to-10-years-in-jail-for-abusing-girl-1.3133911|title=Tom Humphries faces up to 10 years in jail for abusing girl: Former 'Irish Times' sports journalist (54) pleaded guilty to six counts in Circuit Criminal Court|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=26 June 2017|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Judge [[Karen O'Connor (judge)|Karen O'Connor]] sentenced Humphries to {{frac|2|1|2}} years in jail on 24 October 2017. When sentencing, she took into account Humphries's guilty plea and the two character references for the defence from the journalist [[David Walsh (journalist)|David Walsh]] and the hurler [[Donal Óg Cusack]]. The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre was surprised and disappointed about the sentence's leniency.<ref name=RTE_24102017>{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2017/1024/914747-humphries-case-sentencing/|title=Leniency of Tom Humphries's sentence criticised|publisher=[[RTÉ News]]|access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref>
==Prison== Humphries began serving his sentence at the [[Midlands Prison]] in [[Portlaoise]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Conor|last=Lally|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/prisoner-tom-humphries-a-day-in-the-life-on-midlands-prison-s-g-wing-1.3268959|title=Prisoner Tom Humphries: a day in the life on Midlands Prison's G wing: Former 'Irish Times' journalist put in cell near Graham Dwyer on G wing|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=26 October 2017|access-date=26 October 2017}}</ref>
Humphries was offered therapy but declined, having earlier claimed he was remorseful for his crimes while in court.<ref name=sheehan_04082019/> In prison, he shared a landing with Graham Dwyer, who [[Murder of Elaine O'Hara|murdered Elaine O'Hara]], and shared his cell with [[John Tighe]], who killed his baby son.<ref name=sheehan_04082019>{{cite news|first=Maeve|last=Sheehan|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/tom-humphries-will-be-a-free-man-but-he-will-always-remain-a-convicted-paedophile-38372454.html|title=Tom Humphries will be a free man, but he will always remain a: The sportswriter jailed for abusing and sexually exploiting a child will walk free in a fortnight|work=[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]]|date=4 August 2019|access-date=4 August 2019|page=6}}</ref> While serving his sentence he called a prison officer an "uneducated [[turnkey]]". The officer was reported by the ''[[Irish Independent]]'' at the time to have responded: "I would rather be an uneducated turnkey than an educated paedophile".<ref name=sheehan_04082019/> He studied Spanish while in jail, believed to be an indicator of his intentions upon completion of his sentence; Humphries spent time in Spain before his trial.<ref name=sheehan_04082019/>
Humphries was released from prison on 16 August 2019, having served 19 months.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/maeve-sheehan-tom-humphries-will-be-a-free-man-in-two-weeks-but-he-will-always-remain-a-convicted-paedophile-38372454.html|title=Maeve Sheehan: 'Tom Humphries will be a free man in two weeks, but he will always remain a convicted paedophile'|website=Independent.ie|date=4 August 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/paedophile-tom-humphries-to-released-18208393|title=Tom Humphries 'to be released from jail next month'|first=Edel|last=Hughes|date=14 July 2019|website=irishmirror}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * ''Green Fields: Gaelic Sport in Ireland'' (Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated, {{ISBN|978-0-297-83566-0}}, 1996) * ''Laptop Dancing and the Nanny Goat Mambo: A Sportswriter's Year'' (Pocket Books/Town House, {{ISBN|1-903650-53-4}}, 2003) * ''Booked! (V. Carefully) Selected Writings'' (Town House, {{ISBN|1-86059-212-0}}, 2004) * ''Dublin V Kerry'' (Penguin Ireland, {{ISBN|1-84488-085-0}}, 2006)
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphries, Tom}} [[Category:20th-century Irish journalists]] [[Category:21st-century Irish journalists]] [[Category:21st-century Irish male journalists]] [[Category:20th-century Irish male writers]] [[Category:21st-century Irish male writers]] [[Category:21st-century Irish criminals]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Irish columnists]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in Spain]] [[Category:Irish people convicted of child sexual abuse]] [[Category:Irish sports journalists]] [[Category:Irish sportswriters]] [[Category:Journalists from London]] [[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the Republic of Ireland]] [[Category:The Irish Times people]]