A man who sexually abused his younger cousin over a seven-year period when he was a child has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
The 23-year-old Wexford man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, was found guilty of 14 counts of sexual assault on unknown dates between 2013 and 2020 following a Central Criminal Court trial earlier this year.
His cousin was aged between five and 11 at the time of the offending.
The court heard the abuse involved the defendant, who was aged between 13 and 20 at the time, touching his younger cousin's penis and forcing the little boy do the same to him.
The abuse occurred in various locations in Wexford, mainly in the boy's home and also in a grandparent's house. The man continues to maintain his innocence, the court heard.
The victim confided in his mother about the abuse in April 2020 and she went to gardaí. He was interviewed by specialist gardaí and gave limited details of what had happened to him, the court heard.
He said the abuse occurred well over 15 times.
The man was interviewed in 2021 and denied any wrongdoing. He has been in custody since he was found guilty at trial. He has no previous convictions.
The victim in the case was eventually taken into care on a voluntary basis after he became verbally and physically aggressive and his mother was unable to cope.
In a victim impact statement which was read out by counsel, the now 15-year-old boy described how the sexual abuse he experienced between the ages of five and 11 caused his behaviour to deteriorate. “My whole emotional, psychological development has been impacted,” he said, adding he was “never supported”.
He said he started engaging in criminal offending as a way of releasing his anger. He experienced loneliness and isolation and struggled to form healthy relationships. “I am still a child,” he said, adding he is fearful of men his cousin's age and avoids places that remind him of his childhood.
Sentencing the man on Tuesday, Ms Justice Melanie Greally said it was clear the abuse had a profoundly damaging effect on the boy's development at a sensitive and important stage in his development.
She noted the abuse occurred on multiple different occasions and over a prolonged period of time in places where the boy should have been able to feel safe. She noted the extreme youth of the child at the time of the abuse.
She said the abuse had a profound and lasting effect on him and triggered a “self-destructive” course of behaviour on his part.
She set a headline sentence of three and a half years and reduced it to two years and 10 months, taking a number of mitigating factors into account, including the man's youth at the time of the offending, his unstable and dysfunctional background and his limited intellectual capacity.
She suspended the final four months on the condition that the man undergo a sex offender programme.
Ciaran O'Loughlin SC, defending, said his client's entire life had been very unsettled and that he moved frequently. The court heard he has an intellectual disability. He was working in a kitchen before he went into custody.
He was supported in court by his father.
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.
