A Munster man who raped his younger sister in their family home in the 1980s has been jailed for five years.
The man (48), who cannot be named for legal reason, told gardaí he believed the allegation was part of a “conspiracy” against him.
He was convicted following a trial in November 2020 in the Central Criminal Court of a single count of raping his sister at his family home in Co Limerick on a date unknown between September 1st, 1989 and November 30th, 1989.
The man had pleaded not guilty to this charge and continues to deny the offence. He has no previous convictions.
A local garda sergeant told Patrick McGrath SC, prosecuting, that the accused was the eldest of five children and was nine years older than his sister. He was aged 17 at the time of the offence, while she was around eight years old.
Family home
The sergeant said that during the trial, the victim gave evidence that the offence occurred when the accused man was minding her and the rest of the family were not in the house. The man brought her up to his bedroom, lifted up her skirt and raped her.
The victim noticed blood afterwards and her brother told her it was fine. She disclosed the offence to gardaí in 2017.
In interview with gardaí, the accused man denied all wrongdoing in “emphatic terms” and expressed a belief that the allegation was part of a “conspiracy” against him.
In her victim impact, which was read before the court, the victim said she was “raped, molested, abused and mentally tortured” by her brother. She said she should have had a normal childhood like her brother, but she was not given that opportunity.
The victim said her brother stole “my innocence” and “my childhood”. She said that while he is in prison now, he will be free someday and “I will never be free”.
She said her husband asked her after the trial if she had one wish what would it be, and she replied she would wish for her memory of this to be taken away. She asked that her brother never come near her or her family again.
The sergeant agreed with Mark Nicholas SC, defending, that the offence occurred 31 years ago and that his client was a minor at the time.
Mr Nicholas said his client continues to deny the offence. He said his client has been offence free for all his life bar this event.
Lifelong effect
Counsel asked the court to consider that the offence was a single event 31 years ago, that his client was a minor and that he has formed a family of his own. He asked the court to consider the added consequences of the conviction that his client faces.
Justice Paul McDermott said the offence was committed against “a very young child” upon whom it has had “a lifelong effect”. He said it constituted a “gross breach of trust” as it was committed by a brother at a time when his sister's care was entrusted to him.
Justice McDermott said the mitigating factors in the case were the accused's lack of previous convictions, the passage of time since the offence and his age at the time of the offence. He said he accepted the assessment of The Probation Service that the likelihood of reoffending was “very low”.
He noted that a plea of guilty and an expression of remorse were entirely absent from the case, which is not to say the accused is not entitled to maintain his position.
Justice McDermott sentenced the man to five years imprisonment. He backdated the sentence to the date the man first went into custody following his conviction in November 2020.
