A retired school child protection officer admitted to gardaí that he sexually assaulted his then 13-year-old granddaughter after St Anthony told him to tell the truth, a court has heard.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford sentenced the former school teacher to two-and-a-half years in prison, with the final six months suspended.
The man (69) pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the secondary school girl while the two were watching a horror movie at his Co Clare home on May 21st, 2021.
In a powerful victim impact statement, the Limerick girl – now aged 16 – said in court that the man had been like "a second father" to her.
In a WhatsApp message to the girl’s mother and the man’s daughter two days after committing the sexual assault in May 2021, the accused said that he spent hours sitting in the church that day and said that someone told him to talk to St Anthony.
He said that he lit a candle for his granddaughter and St Anthony "eventually spoke back. He said I must tell the truth. 'You are sick and need help and telling lies will not help you and will make your granddaughter's suffering even worse'".
The man told his daughter that he would make a statement to gardaí.
He told his daughter in the WhatsApp message: "I am ashamed of what I have done. Don’t ask me why it happened. I don’t know."
"I now have to face the consequences of my depraved and disgusting behaviour – if that means going to prison – that will be where I will get the help I need".
Openly wept
He went on: "I am truly sorry, I have ruined her life. I am ashamed and physically sick for that. I will do everything to right the wrongs I have done. I love you all. Please don’t give up on me. I’m sure the gardaí will be in touch with you."
The man wept openly in court as his granddaughter read out her victim impact statement as she recalled the close bond the two had prior to him sexually assaulting her.
She said: "He was the man to pull crackers with at Christmas but always let us win. He was the man who would help me with my maths homework.
"He was the man who pushed me to go on to secondary school I am in today. He was the man who made me pancakes in the morning. He was the man I screamed songs with in the car. He was the man who loved listening to me talk about nothing.
The girl went on: "He was the man who brought us for ice-cream before dinner. He was the man who booked the holiday in the summertime.
"He was the man who said ‘I love you’ at the end of every phone call. He was the man who sang 'happy birthday' to me when I woke up. He was the man who protected me from my bullies. He was the man who taught me right from wrong. He was the man I called my grandfather."
She said: "He was the man who sexually assaulted me on May 21st, 2021. This man was my second father. I was meant to be safe in his presence. He was meant to protect me."
"I trusted him unconditionally as he was a teacher, a child protection officer - he was my go-to person. He was my grandfather. My whole life was flipped upside down because the man I knew was never the man I thought he was.”
She further stated: "How I gave my heart to a man who broke every boundary without a care in the world...I miss the girl I was… I don’t feel normal anymore. I hate him for what he did. I hope for the day that I can feel clean and free from him”.
She said that "one selfish, disgusting and violent act has turned a whole family’s life upside down and has ruined mine”.
She told the court: "I am a child. I am a child who was left in the care of a family member who was supposed to protect me, but little did I know I needed to be protected from him.I feel that he saw that I was in a vulnerable position that night, he took advantage."
In a letter of apology previously sent to the victim and read out in court, the accused said that he was truly ashamed of taking advantage of her and of his selfish, mindless and degrading behaviour.
Letters of apology
He wrote: "I was your go-to person on difficult problems, your maths mentor, your school advisor, your TikTok soul, your pancake maker – I have taken your trust and destroyed it. I will think of you every day – I will always love you.
In a letter of apology to the victim’s sister, the accused said that "as a school child protection officer, I have seen first hand what something like this does to families". The accused also wrote letters of apology to the complainant's brother and their mother.
In a letter to the victim’s brother, the accused described his actions as “a moment of madness”.
Imposing sentence on the man, Judge Comerford said that as a former Child Protection Officer the accused would have had insight into the harm he was going and this was an aggravating factor in the case.
Judge Comerford said that he was satisfied that the sexual assault wasn’t premeditated or calculated and was an impulsive crime.
He said he was treating the sexual assault in the mid-range of offending as it was carried out by someone in a position of trust.
The judge said that a hugely aggravating factor in case was the vulnerability of the victim as she trusted the accused implicitly.
Judge Comerford said that it was a credit and very brave of the complainant to bring an end to the sexual assault by slapping her grandfather on the hand.
The judge said that there was a very quick admission within days. Judge Comerford said that the man was remorseful and part of the remorse is accepting the sentence he has to serve.
Counsel for the accused, Yvonne Quinn BL, said that a probation report on her client concluded that he was at low risk of re-offending.
Ms Quinn said her client had presented himself to gardaí on a voluntary basis and during the course of a interview gave a full and frank account.
She said that what occurred was "completely out of character. He was never in trouble before and had no previous convictions."
Ms Quinn said that her client "has lost his wife, lost his children, lost his grandchildren, his marriage and family home".
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.
