A man has been jailed for nine years for the “reprehensible” sexual abuse of his partner’s two sons.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the man would give his victims money or offer to buy them drinks. The offending came to light after the older victim suspected that the man may be abusing his younger brother also.
The elder victim took an overdose before revealing what had been happening to him.
The accused man initially denied the abuse after his arrest. He later claimed during garda interview that he couldn’t remember the incidents but that the boys were not liars.
The 50-year old Dublin man, who cannot be named to protect his victims’ identities, pleaded guilty to ten counts of sexual assault of the older boy at various locations on dates between 2009 and 2015.
He also pleaded guilty to sexual assault, attempted sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation of the younger boy on dates in 2015.
The older victim was aged between 13 and 19 years old at the time of the offences, while his younger brother was approximately 15 years old.
Judge Martin Nolan said he wished to "applaud" both young men in coming forward to tell their stories, noting that "it was a hard thing to do, but necessary".
He said he hoped they both recovered and also commended the gardaí for their hard work in this difficult case.
In passing the nine year jail term, Judge Nolan said he did not accept that the man didn’t know what he was doing to the boys.
He described the offending as “reprehensible” and said the man had used the two young boys “to satisfy his baser urges”. He said that the man deserved his lengthy term in custody.
Victim impact statements were handed into court on behalf of the two boys but not read in open court.
Brian Gageby, defending, submitted that he couldn’t minimise the offending, but asked Judge Nolan to take into account his client’s good work history, genuine remorse and early guilty plea. He handed in a letter of apology written by the man.
A local detective garda told Anne Rowland, prosecuting, that the man was in relationship with the boy’s mother but did not live with them. The boys liked the accused man and believed their mother was happy in the relationship. He would give them money and later bought them alcohol.
The abuse of the older boy began when he was 13 years old and he initially believed it was a mistake. He had gone to stay in the accused man’s house after attending a disco and woke up to find the accused man touching his penis. He jumped up and the accused man laughed and left.
The abuse continued regularly until 2013 with the man masturbating and touching the boy at various locations including in the boy’s home. The child felt afraid and would cry during the abuse.
The accused man, who occasionally stayed over, would go into the boy’s room at night on the pretext of checking on him or would pretend to go to the toilet. The abuse would stop if he heard the boy’s mother moving around the house.
The younger victim reported that two incident of abuse had taken place in 2015 and a third attempted incident had taken place which was one his elder brother had walked in on. The younger victim said the accused man had told him not to tell anyone.