Louth man sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing his young niece

The victim reported the abuse when she decided it was “not my job to keep other people’s secrets.”

A young woman has told Dundalk District Court that a heavy weight has been lifted from her shoulders since she reported that her uncle had sexually abused her over a two-year period, starting when she was eight years old.

The 54-year-old defendant, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday (Friday) after being tried by the District Court on signed guilty pleas to four counts of sexual assault at his home in County Louth.

At the original sentencing on Wednesday, it was revealed that the victim was 19 when she reported the abuse, which began in 2012, to police. He then showered with her and dried her off.

The crimes occurred weekly for the next two years and ended around 10 a.m.^th birthday when she told her uncle that she didn’t want to do this anymore.

At the age of 13, she had imitated what the defendant had done to her to her younger cousin and asked if it had happened to her too. She found that it had not.

The accused told police during voluntary interview that his niece did not know that what he was doing was wrong and that it was abuse. He initially claimed that the girl had staged the incident. However, the investigating police officer from Louth Divisional Protective Services Unit said: “We could not allow this to continue. An eight-year-old could not have staged this and he eventually accepted that” and admitted that he had taken advantage of her.

However, he denied touching her genital area or feeling any sexual attraction to children and said he was ashamed.

In her victim statement, the young woman said: “I kept quiet for ten years before I decided that it was not my job to keep other people’s secrets,” adding: “I was not the person who brought shame on my family.”

She added: “It was easier to tell people. This secret no longer weighed on me.”

The defendant, who had no previous convictions, apologized to his niece, her parents and his family in a letter to the court, saying what happened was “my fault alone.”

The accused was remanded in custody while the verdict was adjourned until yesterday (Friday) for a final decision.

Judge Dara Hayes found that although the 54-year-old admitted to being sexually aroused, he had attempted to downplay his guilt to his probation officer and psychologist by suggesting that the victim had sometimes instigated it, which the judge found to be a completely unfounded claim.

The judge said the long-term risk of the defendant reoffending was assessed as low, but a model that looked at short-term risk in the community environment classified him as being at moderate risk due to his emotional identification with children and deviant sexual preferences.

Judge Hayes said the offence was a gross breach of trust on the part of both the victim and her parents and that the young woman was afraid to visit her grandfather “because she was afraid of who she might see”.

Referring to her victim impact statement, the judge said the victim hoped that her statements would prevent others from suffering the same fate.

Judge Hayes said the frequency and duration of the assaults on a young child by an uncle three decades older were aggravating circumstances.

He imposed concurrent prison sentences of seven years and nine months for both offences, retroactive to the date of his arrest, and suspended the last nine months for two years on probation, subject to conditions that include the defendant participating in a sex offender treatment programme.

Judge Hayes told the young woman: “I am sorry that you have to be here and that this has happened to you. I wish you and your family all the best for the future.”