Convicted rapist jailed for sexually assaulting his young daughter
Eimear Dodd
A convicted rapist has been jailed for three years for sexually assaulting his young daughter almost ten years ago.
The 50-year-old man pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a date between January 2016 and August 2017 at an address in Co. Dublin when the victim was around 12 years old.
He can't be identified to protect the victim's right to anonymity.
He has five previous convictions, including for rape and sexual assault.
The court heard these charges relate to offending when he was a teenager and that he received a four-year sentence in the late 2010s for this.
An investigating garda told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the victim and her siblings were in their father's sole care following their mother's death in 2012.
The children would often go into their father's room to watch movies while he was downstairs drinking.
The victim recalled lying on the bed in her father's room, watching a film with a sibling. She fell asleep and woke up to the man touching the outside of her underwear. He then digitally penetrated her vagina.
The girl initially froze, then ran from his room into her own bedroom. She recalled hearing him calling her name and was frightened.
The victim told gardaí she felt dirty afterwards and wanted to tell her brother the next day but was afraid.
The children were later removed from their father's care and went to live with an aunt.
The girl later told a family member what had happened, then her brother shortly before she made a complaint to gardaí in 2023.
The man was interviewed by gardai, but nothing of evidential value was obtained.
The garda agreed with Michael Hourigan SC, defending, that this client's plea was early, that he had developed an alcohol dependency following the death of his partner in 2012 and didn't fulfil his parental responsibilities.
It was further accepted that the man has no with his family.
In a victim impact statement read by her brother, the woman outlined “unbearable” living conditions with her father after the death of her mother.
She said they would watch movies in their parents' room because it was a reminder of their “beautiful mother”.
She said she was “terrified” when the sexual assault occurred and “petrified” to tell her brother in the aftermath as she was concerned the siblings would be taken into care and split up.
She said she became an “angry child” as he would pick on her and tell her mother's family that she was a “problem child”. But she said she was grieving and traumatised by what he had done.
The victim said after they went to live with a family member, she was still terrified to speak about the sexual assault.
She said she worried about people finding out what had happened and becoming known as a girl who was sexually assaulted by her father.
She said she was “triggered” after seeing her father in a graveyard around Mother's Day 2023, when she and family were going to visit her mother's grave.
She said her body went into shock and family encouraged her to make a complaint to gardaí.
She said she has lived in fear due to the “severe impact” of her father's actions on her life.
The victim said she became aware during the criminal process that her father was living in the same area and this caused her difficulty completing daily tasks.
She told the court “all I'm asking for is justice” for what the man had done to her.
The victim was present in court with a number of ers.
Mr Hourigan told the court while there are no issions, his client does not dispute what the victim says and entered a guilty plea.
He said he is instructed to convey an apology, which his client acknowledged the victim may not wish to accept.
He outlined his client's personal circumstances, including his work history.
Judge Martin Nolan said the sexual assault would have been “very disturbing and frightening” for the girl.
He noted the evidence of the family's circumstances and that there was a “lot of dysfunction in the house around the time”.
“This defendant was not a good father in any way,” the judge, said “This defendant behaved badly to his family”.
Judge Nolan said an aggravating factor was that the victim was the man's daughter and entitled to “trust him” and to his protection and help.
A woman present with the victim interrupted the imposition of the sentence and shouted out “she didn't get it”, referring to the girl getting her father’s protection.
The woman apologised to the court but left following a request from the judge. As she was leaving the courtroom, she shouted at the man “how dare you touch [the girl], how dare you, rot in hell”.
Judge Nolan said the man deserved to go to prison for his offending towards the girl. He noted the man has relevant previous convictions, his guilty plea and expressions of remorse.
The judge said the court hoped this would be “the end of his misbehaviour, but the court can’t be certain of that due to past behaviour”.
There was further shouting from ers present with the victim while the man was led into the cells. The three-year sentence was backdated to January when the man pleaded guilty to the offences.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
