Man sentenced to eleven years in prison for raping a child and sexually abusing his sister

Hamed Azeez (53), of Mac Uilliam Dale, Tallaght, Dublin, was found guilty in March of rape and three counts of sexual assault of the first victim, who was aged between six and eight at the time, in a trial at the Central Criminal Court.

He was also found guilty of two counts of sexual assault against the first victim’s sister, who was between eight and ten years old at the time of the crime.

The crimes occurred between 2013 and 2015 at locations in County Dublin.

Both women have indicated that they want Azeez to be named, but wish to remain anonymous.

Sentencing today, Judge Eileen Creedon said Azeez had been in a long-term relationship with the girls’ mother and the offending took place while they were in his care and he was in a position of trust. He no longer had a relationship with their mother.

Judge Creedon said that when considering the victim impact as set out in the victim impact statements, she was shocked by the young age of the pair, the impact of the abuse on both of them and the way it had damaged one of the girls’ relationship with her mother.

She took into account that Azeez does not accept the verdict and maintains his innocence, insisting that the charges are false allegations motivated by her mother’s desire to ruin his reputation.

Judge Creedon set the sentence for rape at twelve years and for sexual offences at eight years.

She said there was little mitigation as Azeez had neither accepted the jury’s verdict nor offered an apology or acknowledged the harm he had caused to either woman. It was acknowledged that he was generally co-operating with the Garda investigation.

Judge Creedon reduced the sentences by one year each before imposing concurrent sentences of 11 and seven years. She said Azeez should be registered as a sex offender.

A local Garda officer had previously testified that the man was the then partner of the girls’ mother and, because of this relationship, had de facto parental responsibility for the girls.

He raped the first victim on a counter in his house. The girl said it didn’t last long and remembered that there were other children playing outside nearby.

The man also sexually abused the girl by touching her inappropriately. The court heard that these incidents began as fights and often took place under cover.

One incident occurred in the man’s car when he touched her genitally after picking her up from school.

The man also inappropriately touched the girl’s sister on her breasts and buttocks.

The allegations were later reported to the Gardaí and the man denied any wrongdoing when questioned.

The victims’ statements were read out to the court by the prosecutor’s attorney.

The first plaintiff said, “The pain you caused will stay with me forever,” and described how her life had changed.

She said that because of the man’s behavior, she no longer felt safe in the company of older men and described feelings of fear and discomfort.

She said the man’s actions have also damaged her relationship with her mother, whom she blames for what happened. She said there is “always a wall between us” and it is “painful to know that our bond is broken and may never heal because she brought (the man) into our lives.”

The second plaintiff said she was not just a victim of sexual assault, but a survivor. She described feelings of fear, pain and despair.

She said she distanced herself from her loved ones because she was “unwilling to express the extent of my suffering, for fear of being disrespected or misunderstood.”

She said she “can’t shake the feeling that if I had known earlier what sexual harassment was, my sister and I would not have had to suffer this harm.”

She said that thought led to “self-hatred” as she wondered what she could have done to protect her sister and herself.

But the young woman wrote that she is now stronger after pulling herself out of the depths of trauma and will continue her path to healing.

“I believe my words will help anyone who has endured the horrors of childhood sexual abuse,” she added.

The court heard that Azeez moved to Ireland in 2000 and has a long professional experience.

The investigating Garda agreed with the defence, Maurice Coffey SC, that his client’s previous convictions dated back over 20 years and that he was co-operating with the criminal proceedings.

Mr Coffey asked the court to take into account Azeez’s previous history and personal circumstances as set out in a probation report.