A Dublin man has been jailed for three years and four months for sexually assaulting his then nine-year-old daughter as she shared his bed one night.
The man (39) was convicted by a jury in May this year following a trial at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He had pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the girl on an occasion between January 1st, 2017, and April 30th, 2017 at their home.
A victim impact statement from the now 13-year-old girl was read into the record at a previous sentence hearing.
In it she said that at nine-years-old, she should have been “growing up carefree and worry free”.
“He took a part of my childhood that I would never get back. It is unforgiveable and unimaginable He should have been protecting me, caring for me and looking after me but he wasn’t.”
She continued that her father broke her trust. “I should have felt safe and secure,” the statement continued, before she added that she had bottled it all up because she was afraid to speak out.
The teenager said that when she ultimately disclosed the abuse she felt “relieved” and “a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders”.
“He showed no remorse. He tried to make me out to be the liar. Upsetting me more and making everything harder for me. He failed to take responsibility for his actions.”
“I only hope that I close this chapter of my life and move on,” the teenager continued before she thanked everyone involved in the case for their “hard work and dedication”.
“Today justice has been served,” she concluded.
An investigating garda told Kate Egan BL, prosecuting, that the girl disclosed the abuse about six months after the incident.
She said she had gone to bed around 1am that night and she woke up to find her father had put his hands down her bottoms, front and back and had touched both her vagina and back passage, “where babies come from”.
The garda said that when the man was arrested and questioned about his daughter’s allegation, he said he didn’t remember anything happening.
Giollaíosa Ó Lidheadha SC, defending, said his client recognises the extreme hurt he caused his daughter and understands that “things he should have done that he didn’t do and that has contributed to her pain”.
Counsel said his client “maintains that he did not do this intentionally”. “He is absolutely committed to try and rebuild the relationship with his daughter. That is his number one priority in his life,” Mr Ó Lidheadha said.
Judge Elma Sheahan said the man “absolutely denied what she said he had done,” and he had insisted the girl had said the following day he had only put his hands down the front and back of her pyjamas.
Although he is “deeply regretful for having had his daughter in his bed,” she said, he “doesn’t accept the verdict of the jury”.
The man had expressed “great upset over his lack of access to her in the last few years” and spoke of his “pride in and love for his daughter,” she said, but he “effectively called her a liar by his actions” in contesting the case.
The girl had spoken of her “hurt and despair at her father for not taking responsibility,” she said. “The single greatest mitigating factor would have been a plea of guilty,” but this was not available.
Judge Sheahan said the “significant breach of trust” in a setting where the girl was entitled to feel safe, and the age difference were aggravating factors.
However, she accepted that the accused is of previous good character except for a drink-driving offence, which she would not be taking into consideration.
She said he had the support of his neighbours and family of origin, and had received testimonials from work colleagues as well.
Judge Sheahan said she had taken into account the impact of placing him on the sex offenders register, the difficulty he would face serving a sentence for the first time at his age and the effect of his conviction on his employment.
“It would appear the accused does not accept the verdict of the jury,” she said and had not expressed “remorse or regret” for his crime.
She sentenced him to three years and four months imprisonment.
“Should the accused apply to take part in the Better Lives course or similar I would suspend the final four months for a period of 12 months,” she said.
Mr Ó Lidheadha said the programme requires “full acceptance” for prisoners to enrol – and that his client was not in a position to enter into a bond on that basis.
He asked the court to extend legal aid to allow for an appeal, which was granted by the judge.