A MAN who had sex with his teenage daughter on a regular basis has been jailed by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court. He pleaded guilty to six sample charges between October 2005 and January 2007. He admitted two charges each of incest, rape and defilement of a child under 15 years of age.
Mr Justice Carney said the offences merited a six-year sentence before taking into account mitigating factors. He imposed concurrent 3½-year terms on each offence and directed that he undergo three years' post-release supervision.
Garda Tara Dolan told prosecuting counsel Anne B Rowland that in her victim impact statement the girl said that at first she "hated her father and felt sorry for him at the same time" but now didn't hate him anymore.
"He admitted that what he did was wrong and this makes me feel like it wasn't my fault because he has accepted the charges."
She said she hated his relatives "for not bringing him up properly" but that what happened hadn't affected her school work because "I still do really well in all my subjects".
The girl said she now felt "a lot more relaxed because there's no secrets any more" and she wasn't concerned about the future and having a relationship with a boyfriend. She added that counselling had helped her a lot.
Garda Dolan told Ms Rowland that the victim first disclosed the abuse to her religion teacher at school.
The principal reported the matter to social services and a meeting was arranged at which the man admitted his daughter's allegations.
The girl revealed that her father first abused her while they were in Malaysia and the sexual intercourse began about two months after they arrived back in Ireland.
They had intercourse about four times a month and he later began having anal sex with her.
Garda Dolan told Ms Rowland the girl began to understand that what she was doing with her father was wrong after she saw a sex-education video in school.