Investigation into allegation that rape complainant lied in evidence; father was convicted of repeatedly raping her
An investigation has begun into an allegation that the complainant in a child abuse case lied in her evidence, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Last February a jury convicted a 47-year-old man of repeatedly raping and molesting his daughter at their home in Co Mayo and abroad.
The offending took place from 2006 to 2010 when the child was aged between seven and eleven years of age.
Describing his offending as depraved Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy today sentenced the man to 15 years imprisonment with the last year suspended.
The man cannot be named in order to protect the victim's identity. The court heard he has an ongoing drinking problem.
Ms Justice Murphy said the sentencing took place in the unusual circumstances where, since the conviction the complainant is alleged to have told a number of people that she had lied in her evidence.
She said this was now the subject of a garda investigation but there was no evidence before the court relating to the allegation.
The accused stands convicted by a jury and the court's role is to sentence him appropriately, she said.
Following the death of her mother the man took custody of the victim and for the next four years he repeatedly raped her and regularly molested her, the court heard.
The abuse took place in the family home in Co Mayo and at locations abroad.
“He took custody of a bereaved child and bent her to his will. He dominated and controlled her for four years,” the judge said.
She said during her evidence the complainant, now an adult, displayed real insight as to her level of damage caused by the abuse.
The complainant said the damage would stay with her for the rest of her life.
The court heard that after his arrest the accused breached an order to not contact the victim when he sent her numerous text messages under a number of aliases.
These texts, in which the victim indicated she was willing to withdraw her allegations, were shown to the jury.
In her evidence the victim said she was alone at the time and was willing to rejoin her father if he stopped drinking.
Ms Justice Murphy said the jury were left with a stark choice as to whether the texts were “the machinations of a manipulative controlling child abuser” or evidence of a complainant who was “unreliable and who had fabricated her evidence”.
“By their verdict they decided the former,” she said.
The man pleaded not guilty to all offences and continues to maintain his innocence.
