A teenager who was one of two young girls sexually abused by a family friend has said she cannot look back at happy memories from her childhood because “he was there”.
The 73-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of his victims, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to four counts including rape, attempted rape and sexual assault in relation to two victims.
The offending occurred on dates between 2012 and 2019 in Co Tipperary. The complainants are cousins and were aged around four and 10 when the offending started.
The man was a close family friend of the victims' families. He has no previous convictions.
A local garda told Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, that the offending came to light in 2021 and the victims were interviewed by specialist gardaí.
The first victim said she was 10 or 11 when the man touched her buttocks after she went to his house to collect something. This was the start of a pattern of offending which included inappropriate touching and kissing.
On one occasion, the man attempted to rape the girl after asking her to help him with a task. The girl was screaming and hitting him. He asked her not to tell anyone.
The man's offending behaviour stopped when she went to secondary school.
Uncomfortable
The second victim was four or five and visiting relatives who lived near the man. On the first occasion, he touched her inappropriately by putting his hands down her pants.
The man raped her on three separate occasions, the first time when she was five or six in a relative's house. She told gardaí that she did not know what was happening, and she felt uncomfortable for a long time afterwards.
The other two incidents of rape took place in his home after he offered her biscuits. She described feeling pain and discomfort and said the man walked her to a relative's house afterwards.
The now 17-year-old first victim read her impact statement to the court. She described how her “whole childhood consisted of sexual encounters” and said the man's actions had “badly” affected her life.
She said his actions “ruined every aspect of my life” and that she “can't look back” and have happy memories of her childhood because “he was there”.
The teenager said it “hurts to grieve the person I could have been”, adding that the man breached her trust and the trust of her family and that she could never forgive what he did.
Reading her impact statement, the second victim (now 16) said she was 12 before she could tell anyone what had happened to her. She said the abuse caused her to drift away from family members as she did not want to visit the area as she did not feel safe.
The girl said she developed more knowledge as she got older, which led to feelings of shame and suicidal ideation. She attended counselling, adding that her mother “didn't know the reason why I was feeling this way at the time”.
She felt she could not tell her mother initially as she felt she would be “mad” at her. She has trust issues and feels alone and isolated.
She said the criminal process has been distressing for her and her family. She said she “felt sometimes it would have been better if I hadn't spoken about it”.
Both victims concluded their statements by expressing hope that they could start to move on with their lives at the conclusion of the process.
Guilty plea
An investigating garda agreed with defence counsel that his client entered a guilty plea during a pre-trial hearing in advance of a jury being selected. It was agreed that this plea was of benefit to the prosecution and spared the complainants from giving evidence.
The garda also agreed that the man has no previous convictions and had not previously come to garda attention.
Defence counsel asked the court to take into consideration his client's guilty plea, which meant “no doubt was left hanging as to the validity of their complaints”.
He noted his client issued an apology when he entered a guilty plea and said he was instructed to express his client's apologies and remorse to the victims and their families.
His client also went into custody after entering his plea and prison will be a harder experience for him, given his age.
Counsel said his client left school at an early age and has difficulties with reading and writing, but has a good work history.
He asked the court for as much leniency as possible for his client.
Remanding the man in custody, Ms Justice Siobhan Langford adjourned the case to February 26th for finalisation in Waterford.
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.
