Man jailed for seven years for raping 10-year-old niece at her family home in Co Cork – The Irish Times

A 44-year-old man has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to twice raping and sexually abusing his then 10-year-old niece during a visit to his sister’s home in Co Cork more than five years ago

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in July and August 2018.

The man had been referred back to Cork Central Criminal Court for sentencing and Judge Siobhan Lankford recalled Det Garda Martin Bohane’s statements at the earlier hearing.

She said the accused was visiting his sister when he went into his niece’s room and raped her.

A few weeks later, while living in the house again, this time with his partner, he got up at night and raped and sexually abused the girl again.

The girl later told her mother, as they discussed puberty, how her uncle had touched her private parts and “put his in hers”, and the girl’s mother contacted her GP, who alerted Tusla.

The girl was interviewed by Tusla social workers and confirmed to them what she had told her mother. She later made a statement to Garda interviewers after Tusla notified Gardaí

Tusla staff also interviewed the defendant in November 2019 and he was open, cooperative and fully accepted the allegations made against him by his niece, Ms Justice Lankford said.

She recalled the man telling the Tusla interview he was “blind drunk” at the time, but he cooperated fully, made concessions and told them he didn’t want the family “to go through any more “must.

He was later arrested and questioned by gardaí but, on the advice of his lawyer, did not confess but pleaded guilty to all charges when he was first charged on April 10.

Ms Justice Lankford said she read the girl’s victim impact statement and found that although the girl had said she was a quiet, shy child before the rapes, she was now even more withdrawn.

She said the girl told that she now found it difficult to trust men because of what her uncle did to her and she also felt that her uncle had badly betrayed her mother through his actions.

She noted that the girl had also spoken about the impact it had on her relationship with her grandmother, as she no longer felt comfortable visiting her grandmother when her uncle was at home.

Addressing the defendant, Ms Justice Lankford noted that prosecutor Tom Creed SC had informed the court that the DPP viewed the offense as falling into the most serious category.

She said she agreed and deserved a total sentence of 12 and a half years, but she had to take into account a number of mitigating factors highlighted by defense counsel Ray Boland SC.

She noted that the man, who had a good work history, had never had any problems with Gardaí before, had no previous convictions and had not come to Garda’s attention since this offense.

She also pointed out that his crime had damaged him personally as his relationship with his partner, with whom he had a young son, had ended and he no longer had contact with the boy.

It also undoubtedly cost him his relationship with his family, Judge Lankford said, noting he had expressed remorse and written a letter of apology for what he had done to his niece.

She also pointed out that his admission to plead guilty was significant because it spared his niece the trauma of having to testify in a difficult trial.

She said that in all these circumstances, particularly in the case of the guilty plea, she would reduce the total sentence to eight and a half years and suspend the final 18 months to incentivize his rehabilitation.

She also made it a condition of his suspension that he have no contact with his niece or any of her family members and that he remain under the supervision of the probation service for 18 months after his release.

“He will also be placed on the sex offenders’ register,” Judge Lankford said, praising the girl for her courage and her mother for the quick response she took when she found out about the rapes.