Nine years for Mayo man who raped teenage daughter
A Mayo father who raped his teenage daughter has been jailed for nine years by Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins at the Central Criminal Court.
The 48-year-old man was found guilty by a jury on 19 charges of rape and sexual assault on his daughter on dates from 2000-2003. The 19 counts comprised seven of oral rape and 12 of sexual assaults.
He originally faced 56 charges of rape and sexual assault but following legal discussions in the absence of the jury on day-six, Mr Justice O'Higgins withdrew 20 counts from the jury and directed it to return not guilty verdicts on them. One further oral rape charge was later also withdrawn from the jury.
Mr Justice O'Higgins who certified him for registration as a sex offender said his crimes constituted a very serious breach of trust.
The now 15-year-old girl give evidence before the jury of four women and eight men of her father watching porn videos in which men had sex with women who were sometimes dressed as nurses. She said he would then sexually abuse her.
Her father gave evidence denying all her allegations. The jury took just under three hours to return 11-1 majority guilty verdicts on day-seven of the trial in July.
