Man jailed for rape and sexual assault of nieces and nephew
A man who raped and sexual assaulted his two nieces and nephew has been jailed for eight years at the Central Criminal Court.
The 24-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the victims’ anonymity, pleaded guilty to eight counts of rape and six counts of sexual assaults of the three children at different places between 2004 and 2010. He no previous convictions.
The victims were aged between four years of age and ten years of age at the time.
Mr Justice Robert Eagar sentenced the man to eight years for the rape offences and a concurrent five-year-term for the sex assault offences. He declared him a sex offender and ordered that he undergo two years post release supervision.
The man was the uncle of all three victims and two of them were brother and sister.
Caroline Biggs SC, prosecuting said the first victim was ten years old when he was abused at his uncle's family home and it continued later in his own home.
He later told gardaí that the man had told him to grab his penis and masturbate him.
The court heard that the next time the man was babysitting the victim, he had him give him oral sex.
The victim also told gardaí that his uncle anally raped him.
On another occasion in 2010 the court heard both the man and the victim were in the shower and the man forced mutual masturbation.
The court heard this victim would have met his uncle five times a month between 2007 and 2010 before he made a statement in 2013.
Ms Biggs told the court that one of the uncle's nieces made a complaint of a "sexual nature to school friends in 2013" and this was then brought to the attention of her teacher and head mistress.
"The friends of this girl were told by her that her uncle touched her in places she didn’t like and her parents didn’t know. The school principal informed the HSE and her parents," said counsel.
Ms Biggs said the "first disclosure" was made by this girl in school which led to a "domino effect of the others."
The court heard this victim said the accused "touched her down there" when she was about five years of age.
"He told me not to tell anyone or I would be taken away from mammy and daddy," she said.
The man was arrested in 2013 and he initially denied the allegations.
However, when the girl's statements were read to him, he broke down and admitted everything.
He said he did not know "what possessed him to do such a thing" and that he had not "touched kids" since September 2010.
The man asked the garda to "tell the kids he is sincerely sorry for what he has put them through."
"The abuse maybe started when he was 12 years of age and stopped when he was 19 years of age.
He has been unemployed since leaving school and living with his parents," said the garda.
Aidan Doyle SC, defending, said his client described to gardaí that there had been "a lot of trouble in the family" and he got attacked with a "scissors in the neck."
The garda agreed with Mr Doyle that the man said "he was sorry and why does he have to be this screwed up."
Mr Doyle said his client came “from a good family” and had the complete support of his parents. He claimed during interview that he had been the victim of child abuse.
