A convicted sex offender who sexually exploited a young child in his care for over a year and a half has been jailed for nine years.
The 61-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the child's identity, pleaded guilty to nine sample counts from a total of 69 charges spanning a period between March 2021 and November 2022.
He admitted to five counts of sexually exploiting a child, three counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography on dates unknown during this period.
The child was aged between three and a half and five years' old at the time of the abuse. The court heard that the little girl's father lived in the same building as the accused, who often looked after the child whenever her father went out to the shops for short periods of between 10 or 20 minutes.
The man told gardaí during interview “I'd be lying if I remembered the first time,” but said the abuse started with him playing and wrestling with the little girl, then progressed to him pulling down her underwear and touching her.
He told gardaí he got the child to start touching and masturbating him and that he had videotaped this on his phone. He also admitted licking her vagina.
Gardaí seized the man's Samsung phone, Samsung tablet and also the duvet that appeared in several of the videos found on his devices.
On the mobile, gardaí found 113 child exploitation images related to the girl, and a further 755 images of child exploitation which were not related to her.
There were also three videos of child exploitation related to the child, in which the man's duvet was visible as well as a distinct tattoo on one of his hands.
On the tablet, gardaí discovered 81 videos and 11 images of child exploitation, none of which were of the child in question.
The accused man has several previous convictions, including one for possession of child pornography in 2014, for which he was sentenced to four years with the final year suspended.
He was jailed for three years in 2008 for sexually assaulting a minor in 2004, and he received a suspended sentence in 1997 for sexual assault.
In 1978, the accused was convicted of common assault.
Victim impact statement
The child's mother read a victim impact statement to the court in which she said she has stopped working since the offences came to light so that she can care for her child.
She said her daughter feels like the offences were her fault and is lashing out at people around her and wetting herself. The child strips herself down and poses in front of the mirror, her mother said, and will no longer sleep in her own bed. She used to go to sleep at 7.30pm at night, her mother said, but now the child cannot sleep until the early hours of the morning.
The little girl, who is now six, is still on a waiting list to receive counselling, the court heard.
“I feel like it's my fault for sending her away,” said her mother, adding that she no longer lets her daughter see her father.
The child's father also read an emotional victim impact statement to the court, saying he had not seen his daughter since November 2022.
The man said he can't sleep at night and is barely functioning during the day, as he feels guilty about what happened to his daughter.
He said he thought of the accused as his friend. He has relapsed into smoking weed and would be “lost without work”. He can't afford counselling, he told the court.
Judge Orla Crowe had adjourned the case having first heard evidence last December.
On Tuesday, she said the victim’s parents are quite understandably devastated by the offence. She said the man had exploited the child, filmed her and sexually abused her.
Judge Crowe said the offences represented a grave breach of trust, “he took utter advantage of her”.
She noted that the man had similar relevant previous convictions and had undergone rehabilitation as part of those previous cases.
“He has previously undergone rehabilitation but has not appeared to have had any lasting impact, that is of concern,” Judge Crowe said.
She said the sexual exploitation offence warranted a headline sentence of 12 years before she imposed a sentence of nine years having taken into account mitigation in the case including the man’s guilty pleas.
Judge Crowe imposed concurrent sentences of four and half years for the remaining offences.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
