A convicted sex offender who abused his granddaughter after his wife permitted him to be in the house during the child's weekend visits has been jailed for a year.
The mother of the complainant believed that the child's grandfather was not in the house at the time, while the child's grandmother led the young girl to believe that her grandfather was actually her uncle.
Garda Kevin Lynn told Philipp Rahn BL, prosecuting, that the man abused his granddaughter when they were alone together in the kitchen of his home.
He picked her up off the kitchen counter where she had been sitting, wrapped her legs around his waist and moved her up and down his body.
She said she was pressed up against his body and was aware his penis was erect. The victim later told gardaí that this happened on two further occasions but she could not recall the lead-up to those incidences.
Previous convictions
The 77-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the now 24-year-old complainant, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of sexually abusing the girl on a date unknown between February 1st, 2002 and December 31st, 2003. Two further charges were taken into consideration.
She was aged between five and seven years old at the time.
Gda Lynn said the man had two previous convictions for indecently assaulting a female child and for five incidences of anal rape of his nephews. He has served a total of seven years in prison for these offences.
He also has a conviction for failure to comply with the sex offender's registration.
The garda confirmed that the man's wife later made a statement confirming that she told the child that her grandfather was actually her uncle. The child realised he was her grandfather when, as an eight-year-old, she called to the house along with her mother and the accused answered the door and the child's mother addressed him by name.
Judge Martin Nolan said undoubtedly the man engaged in reprehensible behaviour by sexually assaulting his grandchild.
Prison sentence
He noted that the mother of the child knew of the man's history. “If she had known he was in the house I very much expect she would not have allowed her there,” Judge Nolan said. The judge said he was surprised that the child's grandmother “allowed his presence there while the child was there.”
Judge Nolan acknowledged that the man was old with “certain problems” and accepted he was “remorseful for what he has done” and that he was respectful and co-operative with the gardaí.
He said, “this young lady has been abused, she has put her faith in the justice system” before he added that the man must undergo a prison sentence “despite his age”.
Judge Nolan said had the man been 10 years younger, and in better health, he would have jailed him for longer.
Gda Lynn told Mr Rahn that the victim's parents had separated when she was a toddler and she spent most weekends visiting her father in the home he shared with his own parents. He said it was the child's mother's belief that her grandfather didn't live in the house at the time.
A victim impact statement prepared by the woman said she tried to cover up her feelings as a teenager and began drinking at the age of 15. She said she became known as “the girl who always cries when she drinks”. She said she moved away to attend college but found it very difficult and returned home.
Social isolation
She said she suffered “social isolation” as she was afraid to go outside and delayed her college education. She concluded her statement by saying that she is “no longer afraid now the truth is out and the fact something is being done about it”.
Gda Lynn agreed with Kevin White BL, defending that the man had previously failed to show up for a trial date because he had tried to harm himself.
He accepted that the man had made previous attempts on his life and has suffered a number of strokes in the recent past. He is currently living in sheltered accommodation.
Mr White said his client wished to convey his deepest apologies for the hurt he had caused his granddaughter but acknowledged that this will not change what happened.
Counsel submitted that his client has “paid a huge price for his behaviour” in that he lives alone, has no contact with any of his family, apart from one of his children and “his circumstances appear to be quite sad”.
He also asked the court to take into account the fact that his client has not come to garda attention for 14 years.
