A man who repeatedly sexually abused a young girl over a two-year period almost 30 years ago has been jailed.
Stephen Lane (52) was 14 when he started to sexually assault the girl, who was aged between five and seven at the time.
The Central Criminal Court heard the woman wishes for Lane, of Fernwood Avenue, Springfield, Tallaght, Dublin, to be named, but to retain her anonymity.
Lane pleaded guilty to five sample counts of indecent assault on dates between February 1986 and June 1988. Eighteen further counts of indecent assault were taken into consideration by the court during the sentencing.
The girl was known to Lane and the abuse took place at a number of locations, including her home.
The court previously heard the abuse stopped in June 1988 after the girl’s father became aware.
The victim made a complaint to gardaí in June 2019. Lane attended for interview voluntarily and initially denied the allegations.
An investigating garda told Gerard Clarke SC, prosecuting, that Lane touched the girl inappropriately on her genital area, telling her it was a game and not to tell anyone.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she was a “young, vulnerable child” and Lane convinced her what was happening was normal. “I was too young to know it was wrong,” she said.
The 80s were a different world and the girls got the blame.
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She outlined that she felt she was the one “being punished” after the abuse came to light, and she was made to feel it was her fault.
“I felt I was no longer looked at the same by my parents and no longer felt safe. The older I got, the more I realised how he was the one they protected when it should have been me…the 80s were a different world and the girls got the blame.”
Later in her statement, the woman said: “He stopped me from having the life I could have had.” She said she had to cope with the effects of the abuse, while “he lived his life with no impact”.
“Quite simply, he destroyed my life”, she said.
She said she is “glad” she spoke out about what happened and “always knew” she would go to gardai.
She said she was afraid she would not be believed, describing the relief when she was told the case was going forward.
She said she was relieved when Lane pleaded guilty. “It was the ultimate validation at last. For the first time ever, I was smiling and it wasn’t put on like a mask…all I want is freedom from trauma.”
Persistent abuse
Imposing sentence on Monday, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said Lane's abuse of the girl was “persistent” and “frequent”.
She noted the victim's young age at the time of the offending and the age gap between her and Lane. The judge said Lane had “isolated” the girl and told her it was a game in order to normalise his behaviour.
Ms Justice Creedon said she would set a headline sentence of six years for an adult, but noting that Lane was a juvenile at the time of the offending, she reduced the headline sentence to three years.
The judge said she took into account the mitigation including Lane's guilty plea, the contents of a psychological report and his work history.
She handed Lane a sentence of two and a half years, with the final six months suspended on strict conditions.
Ms Justice Creedon also directed that Lane is placed on the sex offenders' register for three years.
At a previous hearing, the victim outlined in her impact statement that she experienced a pattern of abusive relationships, which felt normal to her.
She outlined she had little to no trust in people and “hates to be touched”, even by her children. The woman has also suffered from hypervigilance and over-protectiveness of her children.
Defence counsel said Lane has a long work history and is a divorced father of four.
A medical report was handed into the court, which outlined Lane feels a great degree of stress and anxiety due to the case.
She asked the court to take into account her client’s expressions of remorse, his guilty plea and acceptance of responsibility.
Counsel also pointed out that her client was aged between 14 and 16 at the time of his offending, and asked the court to take this into consideration when devising a sentence.
A psychological report stated Lane was shown explicit pornography as a young teenager and received no sex education from his parents or at school, the court was told.
He is assessed at below average to low risk of re-offending and is willing to engage with any appropriate services. Two testimonials were also handed to the court.
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.
