A Galway man who was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of his niece has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The Central Criminal Court previously heard that in April this year a jury found the accused, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, guilty of two counts of rape, one count of anal rape and two counts of sexual assault.
The court heard that the offending took place in the west of Ireland between December 2008 and 2013, when the victim was aged between seven and 13. The accused has 12 previous convictions, including a conviction for sexual assault, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Passing sentence on Wednesday, Ms Justice Karen O’Connor highlighted the “strength and courage displayed by the victim in making the complaint and following through on that complaint in circumstances where she is in a tight-knit community”.
Judge O’Connor said the injured party is sending out a message to other children that they are not alone in the circumstances of abuse and added that it may encourage other children to come forward.
The judge said the aggravating factors in this case was that the accused used “his position of dominance to carry out these offences”. He “humiliated and degraded” the girl by calling her “ugly” and told her while raping her that she “didn’t have to be ugly any more”. She said the accused took advantage of the girl's “vulnerability”, and there was a breach of trust.
Ms Justice O’Connor said the “biggest mitigating factors is not available to him as he did not plead guilty, he continues to deny any wrongdoing, and in those circumstances, remorse does not arise”.
Previous convictions
The judge noted the man has previous convictions for sexual offending of another child for which he was sentenced to three years in prison. She said she would take into consideration his medical conditions.
Judge O’Connor sentenced him to 11 years in prison which she backdated from when he went into custody in April of this year. She also instructed that he remain under post-release supervision for seven years.
Detective Garda Orla Keenan told Patrick Reynolds, BL, prosecuting, that the injured party and the accused lived in the same estate during the time of the offending, with the accused man living in a caravan.
Det Gda Keenan said the accused would tell the injured party that she was "ugly", give her dirty looks, and slap and push her. The rapes carried out by the accused all happened in his caravan, and on one occasion, he told her, “you don’t have to be ugly anymore”.
The court heard the girl was raped vaginally and anally and was left bleeding and sore. The girl was taken into care in 2013 and described this day as “the best day” in her victim impact statement.
Det Gda Keenan said the offending came to light in 2017 when the injured party disclosed the abuse to social care workers while she was in foster care. An investigation began, and the girl was interviewed by specialist gardaí.
In December 2018, the accused was arrested and detained. He was interviewed on four occasions.
During his interview, he offered denials and “no comment” to questions relating to the offending. The accused was found guilty by a jury of three counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault in April of this year.
Victim's statement
A victim impact statement was read to the court by prosecuting counsel on behalf of the victim. She said: “My childhood was like any other child. I was never afraid of anything until a monster destroyed me.”
“I will never get back the innocence that you took from me”. The statement also outlined that the victim had tried to take her own life, had self-harmed and that she would wish “I didn’t wake up”.
Det Gda Keenan agreed with Desmond Dockery, SC, defending, that some of his client's previous convictions were now more than 30 years old.
Mr Dockery said his client's previous conviction for sexual offending was 25 years ago and that he found that prison term very difficult.
Counsel said his client is already a registered sex offender, and has a “damaged reputation”.
A medical report for the accused was handed into the court, highlighting a mild cardio infarction and hypertension. The accused has a history of depression.
Mr Dockery asked the court to take the totality principle into consideration.
