A 72-year-old "voracious sexual predator" who masqueraded as a "kindly uncle" while sexually abusing three of his nieces for a decade has been jailed for 18 years.
Sentencing the Cork man on Monday, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said he might not survive the sentence, given his advanced age.
The judge said the sentence "might be regarded as harsh" but noted the offending took place over the course of a decade and involved three children.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 16 sample counts of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and indecent assault between 1985 and 1995.
The court heard the abuse took place at various locations in Co Cork and Co Kerry, including the man's home, his car and the home of two of his victims. The abuse included rape, attempted rape and inappropriate touching.
The three victims are all nieces of the man and were aged seven or eight when the abuse began and continued into their teenage years. The first and second complainants are sisters, while the third complainant is a cousin of the other victims.
Prolonged, humiliating and degrading
Imposing sentence, Mr Justice Hunt said the man was a "voracious sexual predator, masquerading as a kindly uncle".
He said the abuse was repeated, prolonged, humiliating and degrading, and he placed it in the highest category of offending in terms of seriousness. He noted there was a multitude of offences which spanned a period of 10 years.
The judge set a headline sentence of 25 years, which he reduced to 20 years, noting the man is now 72 and that a higher sentence may have a "crushing" effect on him. He suspended a further two years of this sentence "perpetually".
"The period of his wrongdoing and the harm it caused calls for a serious sentence, which he may or may not survive," Mr Justice Hunt said.
He said the man should undergo two years of post-release supervision "should he be released".
The judge said he wished to salute the complainants for their bravery in coming forward and for their "vivid and impressive" statements to the court.
In a previous sentence hearing, two of the man's nieces read their victim impact statements to the court. Both women said the man had destroyed their childhoods.
One of the nieces said her uncle was "someone I should have been able to trust, someone who should have protected me", but instead he "used me, an innocent child, for his own sexual pleasure".
She said the man had "hurt and ruined so many lives" through his "sickening" and "perverted actions".
"I may not have visible scars to show, but I wish you could spend a day inside my head to see how eight-year-old me felt."
Monster
Another niece said the man "was a monster and a scary man". "What he did followed and haunted me for nearly 35 years," she said, describing it as a "life sentence".
She asked the court to "look at him through the eyes of that vulnerable and impressionable eight-year-old girl" who saw him as a "big strong man terrorising a little child".
"I didn't matter, he didn't care. My beautiful small eight-year-old self suffered for nearly 25 years for his selfish and cruel actions."
One of the complainants did not submit a victim impact statement. She told gardaí the man had "ruined" her life and "every day since is a struggle".
She said she developed depression and an alcohol addiction, but has sought treatment.
The court heard there were several confrontations within the family about the man's actions. During one such incident in 2017, the man acknowledged abusing two of the victims, but denied the sexual assault of the remaining complainant.
He said: "I was only loving them."
One of the women made a statement to Tusla in 2019 and the other women later spoke to the agency. The three women made formal complaints to Gardaí during July and August 2021 and a formal investigation began.
The defendant was arrested in December 2021 and was interviewed on nine occasions. He answered questions but made no admissions. He has no previous convictions, is a father of three and has previously worked as painter.
The investigating garda agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that the man's guilty plea was of assistance. It was further accepted there were family confrontations in 2013 and 2017 about the man's offending behaviour as the complainants wanted an acknowledgement of his wrongdoing.
The garda agreed the man gave up his job and his wife stopped minding children in the house as the complainants had concerns about child safety. He also accepted that the man's daughters gave statements to Gardaí and one described him as an "eternal denier".
Mr Clarke asked the court to take into consideration his client's guilty pleas, his age and lack of previous convictions.
His client and wife gave up their work following the family confrontation in 2017. This event also placed some limitations on how his client lived his life, Mr Clarke noted, and asked the court to factor this into the sentence.
He also asked the court to take into account the admissions in relation to two of the complainants made by the man during the family confrontation. He said it is "disappointing" that his client was not more forthright with the probation officer.
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.
