A Dublin man who admitted sexually assaulting four of his young female cousins is to be sentenced later this month.
The man (32), who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the victims, one of whom was just four years old at the time, pleaded guilty last July to six counts of sexual assault on dates unknown between 2000 and 2006 at addresses in Dublin city.
At his sentence hearing on Friday at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin remanded him on bail for sentencing on October 31st to allow time to consider her judgement.
Three victims, aged 26, 21 and 20, wrote victim impact statements read out in court which all expressed how their extended family had once been very close-knit but was now “torn apart”.
Garda Mairéad Murphy told Eoghan Cole BL, prosecuting, that gardaí were first informed after two of the cousins had a sleepover in December 2014 and one asked the other if the man had ever touched her.
When they realised that they had both been sexually assaulted, the girls informed their parents. The court heard that further allegations surfaced from two other cousins and gardaí were contacted.
The eldest cousin said she was aged about eight when the first offence took place in her bedroom. The man, then aged about 14, grabbed her and forced her down on the floor, covering her mouth with his hand and thrusting his body up and down on top of her until she managed to push his hand away and scream. A similar offence took place a few weeks later but she managed to kick or push him off.
Dancing
The girl said she had started secondary school when he assaulted her a third time by groping her breast and putting his hand down her jeans. A further assault took place when she was dancing with some of her cousins and the man came up behind her and cupped her private parts with his hands.
The second cousin said she was aged seven or eight when the man followed her into her bedroom, forced her to the ground and started to “dry hump” her, telling her to be quiet when she tried to scream.
On another occasion at around the same time, he took her on his lap and groped her, warning her to keep quiet about this and saying ‘you know I love you’. She detailed two other incidents of sexual assault after which he warned her not tell anyone or they would both get in trouble.
The third cousin was aged just four or five when she went to the bathroom in the man’s’s house and he grabbed her. She said he put one hand down the outside of her tracksuit bottoms and touched her and lifted up her top with his other hand and started to kiss her chest.
When gardaí asked if she could differentiate at the time between a childhood game and something that felt wrong, she said she knew even then that it was wrong.
The fourth cousin said she was about six or seven years and was having difficulty undoing her dungarees when the man started to help her, but instead put her on the ground on her back and groped her private parts.
All four women said they continue to suffer from depression and anxiety as a result of the abuse and that they have struggled with personal relationships.
Flashbacks
They said they have flashbacks about the assaults and get panic attacks or feel sick whenever they see the man. He has no previous convictions. The court heard that the day after gardaí first met the women and the defendant, the man presented at a garda station and made full admissions.
Orla Crowe SC, defending, said the man wanted to express his sincere and deep remorse to his four cousins. She said he was not in a position to plead guilty before his second trial date, as his legal team were awaiting a psychological report.
The report described the man as a psychologically vulnerable, naive and overly compliant person who was prone to anxiety and depression and had a limited capacity for empathy.
Ms Crowe said her client worked as a hotel cleaner and that outside of work he “doesn’t have much of a life” and spent his time playing computer games. She said he was “terrified” by the prospect of going into custody and was highly ashamed of what he did.
The court heard that he is at average risk of future sexual offending but is willing to participate in any rehabilitation programme for sex offenders as deemed appropriate.