Copyright irishmirror
A convicted rapist has been told he will spend nine more years in custody for the sexual abuse of his young daughter. The man was convicted following a Central Criminal Court trial earlier this year of 19 counts – one of oral rape, six of attempted rape, six of sexual assault and six of invitation to sexual touching. The offending took place between February 2020 and July 2021 at an address in the west of the country, when the girl was aged between 11 and 12. The man cannot be identified to protect his teenage daughter's right to anonymity. The court heard he is currently serving a nine-year sentence for the rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment of another woman in 2019. The man was on bail for this offence when the abuse of his daughter occurred, meaning that a consecutive sentence was required. On Monday, the man was handed a global 13-year sentence, consecutive to the sentence of nine years that he is currently serving. The final four years of the 13-year sentence were suspended on strict conditions. Addressing her father in her victim impact statement during an earlier hearing, the girl said he would simply be a “monster” in her life from now on. “Because of your actions, you have now lost the right to have anything to do with my life again. You will never see me grow into strong young woman, see any grand children,” she said. Mr Justice Tony Hunt thanked the girl for her statement. “You were listened to by the jury and believed”. “You can’t change any of this. You are still very young and have your whole life ahead of you,” the judge said, urging the girl to “make the best” of life. “If you don't, you are letting him win,” he told her. Imposing sentence on Monday, Mr Justice Hunt said it was an aggravating factor that the man sexually abused and groomed his young daughter, who had moved from abroad to live with her father. He said the girl, like any child, was entitled to look to a parent for protection, and “not to become a sexual plaything” as demonstrated by the evidence in this case. Mr Justice Hunt said the court does not “discern any mitigating factors of real substance”. He said the court had taken into consideration principles of totality and proportionality, noting that the man is already serving a lengthy sentence and the sentence he imposed should not be crushing. However, the judge said the court must be careful when reducing a sentence, noting that a “very lengthy sentence” may be appropriate for “very serious and ongoing wrongdoing” and the court “cannot have situations where people get discounts on the basis they elect to commit further serious offences”. Mr Justice Hunt set a 13-year sentence to run consecutively to the nine-year sentence the man is currently serving. The judge suspended the final four years of the sentence, on strict conditions including that the man leave the country and not return for 15 years. Evidence was heard that the young girl moved to live with her father when she was 10 from another country. He would return home, appearing to be drunk and tell her to remove her clothes before sexually assaulting her. The abuse included inappropriate touching, digital penetration of her vagina, oral rape and attempted rape. The court heard the man invited the girl to perform oral sex on him, touch his penis and masturbate him. He also put her hand on his penis, telling her he was teaching her what to do when she was older. The abuse came to light in 2021 when the girl made a disclosure while visiting her aunt. The investigating garda agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that the man has a work history and moved to Ireland from another country during the 2010s. Reading her victim impact statement via video-link, the injured party said when she moved to Ireland to live with her father, “I never imagined it would lead to where I was today”. She said she immediately thought something wasn't right, but “never thought he could hurt me”. “I was happy to move and start new life in Ireland with him,” she said, later adding that her mother had trusted him and sent her for the chance of a better education. The girl said she is only now understanding the severity of what her father did to her. “No person should ever have that done to them, let alone by a parent to their child”. She said her father told her not to tell anyone and felt alone and scared no one would believe her. She said she panicked when she told her aunt about the abuse, but also felt safe “for the first time in so long”. She said her life is very different from that of her peers and friends, and that she finds it difficult to trust people and often found herself in harmful situations. “I have part of my life back, but I want it all back”, she said. “I want my innocence”. She said she often felt life was not worth living, but wants a future and to be confident and loved. Mr Clarke noted that his client's previous convictions for sexual offending are aggravating. He said the man is doing well in custody and is aware he is facing a long sentence. He asked the court to consider that while his client was convicted on 19 counts, the jury found him not guilty on other charges. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here .
