Fears paedophile rapist Keith Burke has moved into Irish estate after prison release

“People are worried sick and angry that he is there,” one man told the Sunday World, who said he turned up the say after his release from Arbour Hill prison.

We revealed last week how Burke had been freed after serving his time behind for raping three girls aged under 10.

Now it appears he has stayed a number of nights at a house in Galway which has left neighbours fearful, according to local residents.

“I felt absolutely sick when I realised it was him, we never thought he would come back not for a minute.”

“There are a lot of young kids in this estate - he definitely should not be back here. They can’t be left out now for even a minute without someone keeping eye.”

“There’s definitely a lot of anger over it.”

Burke has to register as a sex offender with the gardaí within a week of his release from prison and to provide an address where he intends to live or face being prosecuted.

Under the legislation Garda Superintendent can seek a Circuit Court order to force a registered sex-offender move to a different address if there is a risk to anyone.

Burke raped three girls who were all under the age of 10 between 2003 and 2007 at a foster home in Galway.

He refused to speak when approached by the Sunday World after his release last week, instead climbing into the back of a van.

We were told: “F**k off out of it” as Burke dropped some of his belongings on the street in his panic to hide.

Burke’s rape case sparked huge controversy when it emerged a victim had been allowed to stay at the foster home even though another had already reported the abuse.

One girl reported the abuse in 2007 but no prosecution followed.

Another victim was allowed to continue to stay at the home until she too confided that she had been abused in 2011.

A third victim was discovered by gardaí when a second investigation was launched and found she had also been raped by Burke.

Burke was found guilty of 23 charges of rape and buggery after a trial in 2017.

Burke had pleaded not guilty to the charge and all three victims had to take the witness stand to give evidence.

Sickening details of Burke’s depraved abuse emerged following a documentary by RTE Investigates in which one of the victims named and shamed him.

Following his six-and-a-half year sentence one of the victims told RTE: "I was very angry, I thought I was fine but 6.5 years, 7.5 years with one year suspended, that’s nothing and what he put us through.”

She told how there was a hut at the house where the two young girls were forced to strip down and forced to watch as he raped the other.

She said that the two girls were sexually abused by Burke in front of each other over the following two years.

In 2021 one of the women reached a High Court settlement for an undisclosed amount, agreed with the HSE and Tusla and was made without an admission of liability.