Dublin man jailed for rape of former partner's daughter
A Dublin man has been given an 11-year sentence for raping and sexually abusing his former partner's child from the age of eight.
The 34-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 32 counts of sexual assault and 3 counts of rape at various locations around Dublin between 2001 and 2008. He also pleaded guilty to one count of sexually abusing her sister in 1998.
Sergeant Kevin Jennings told prosecuting counsel, Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, that the man was living with the girl's mother and started abusing the younger victim in 2001 when he was alone in the house with her.
He started molesting her on the couch until she pushed him off and vomited. She then went to bed and cried herself to sleep.
It occurred again in her mother’s bedroom after she went in to try and wake him and was pulled into the bed.
After this the man split up with the girl's mother. He moved out of the house but the girl continued to see him. The abuse continued in various addresses around Dublin when she went to visit the man. It would also occur when he visited their house. Every weekend he would come into her bedroom and abuse her.
In 2006 the girl's mother went on holiday for a week leaving the accused with her. During this time he tried to force her to perform oral sex and also used the opportunity to install a lock on her bedroom door.
While she was on holidays abroad she had a fight with her mother and ended up staying in the accused's bedroom where he raped her. On another occasion she awoke to find him having sex with her.
The abuse came to light when the victim told her boyfriend and boyfriend's mother. They brought her home and told her mother what had been happening.
When the man heard about this he handed himself into gardaí and admitted he had been molesting the girl but claimed it was consensual. During this time the victim's older sister also said she had been sexually assaulted by him at a family Christmas party in 1998.
In the younger girl's victim impact report she stated her abuser has "destroyed her childhood" and she would have no happy memories to pass onto her own children.
"My life has been destroyed by him," she said. "I would never want anyone to suffer the abuse I suffered at the hands of him."
Defence counsel, Mr Michael O Higgins SC, submitted that his client had handed himself in to gardaí straight away and is extremely remorseful. He said his client wants to be punished and became suicidal after the allegations came to light.
He handed in a letter to the court by the man, apologizing to his victims and their family.
Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed an 11-year sentence on the rape charges but suspended the final three years taking into account the mitigating circumstances. He imposed concurrent sentences of four years for the sex assault charges.
