Two Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politicians have said they did not intend to "add to any hurt suffered" by victims of David Tweed with statements of condolence after his death.
Tweed, who served time in jail for child sex abuse, died last month.
He had served as a unionist councillor and was a former Ireland rugby player.
The DUP's Ian Paisley and Mervyn Storey were among the politicians whose comments were criticised by Tweed's victim and stepdaughter Amanda Brown.
Tweed had been a member of the DUP and later the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV).
He died after a motorcycle crash at Dunseverick in County Antrim on 28 October.
His child abuse conviction was subsequently quashed due to the way the jury had been directed in his initial trial.
Shortly after Tweed's death, Mr Storey described him as a "larger-than-life character" and said: "It is well known that he had some difficult and sad times in his life and it is very upsetting to hear of his passing."
Mr Paisley had said he would "send my condolences and heartfelt prayers" to Tweed's family "at what must be an unimaginably heartbreaking time for them".
'Massively disrespectful'
TUV leader Jim Allister also commented after Tweed's death, also describing him as "larger than life".
Mr Allister also said he was "deeply saddened" to learn of Tweed's death and expressed his "sincere sympathy to his grieving family and wide circle of friends".
Last week Ms Brown, who was abused by her stepfather from the age of eight, told BBC News NI that politicians should have been more careful with their use of language.
"I think it's massively disrespectful to victims, not only Davy Tweed's victims but all victims of abuse," she told the Talkback programme.
"The message that they're putting out is it doesn't really matter that we have heard about what this man has done, we'll still call him a great man."
On Sunday Tweed's sister Hazel McAllister said she had received "many threats" from her brother.
"Even though he's gone, I still have that fear," she told the Sunday World newspaper.
'Powerful and distressing words'
In a statement issued to Irish national broadcaster RTÉ on Tuesday, Mr Paisley and Mr Storey said they had expressed condolences to "those who mourned David Tweed's death".
"We would want nothing in our statements to take away from the subsequent powerful and distressing words of his daughters who have bravely told of the terrific abuse they suffered and the weekend comments of one of his sisters," they said.
"It was never our intention to add to any hurt suffered nor would we ever be dismissive of any victim of abuse."
They said they had "always sought to support and enable abuse victims to come forward by supporting Women's Aid and other such fantastic organisations".
Speaking to BBC News NI on Monday, Mr Allister said he stood by the statement he made in relation to Tweed after his death and he asked: "What was disrespectful about [it]?
"Wasn't he a larger than life character? He was physically large, he was a man of considerable presence.
"I don't see that as any sort of insult to anyone to say the truth."
Mr Allister said he was "not going to be bullied into saying that the court was wrong to acquit" his former party colleague.
"That seems to be the demand, that I, as a public representative, should repudiate our courts - I'm not in that business," he said.
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November 23, 2021 at 10:48PM
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David Tweed: DUP politicians 'had no intention' to hurt victims - BBC News
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