A MAN who raped, buggered, and indecently assaulted his niece has been jailed for eight years. However, Mr Justice Barr released the west Dublin man on continuing bail until June 6th next when the sentence is to begin.
The judge said he took the unusual step of postponing the start of the sentence so the man (35) could get counselling on the realities of imprisonment.
He had earlier read a report which found the man's "frail psychological makeup" would make him a suicide risk in prison. Mr Justice Barr said the postponement would also allow time for the defendant and his siblings to make arrangements for their elderly mother, who had been in the care of the defendant.
The man was convicted last June of what the judge called "loathsome sexual behaviour" but Mr Justice Barr noted he maintained his innocence despite 60 sessions with a therapist.
The jury took just under five hours to reach a unanimous verdict on all the charges after a four-day trial.
The defendant had pleaded not guilty to committing the offences between February 1984 and March 1989.
Mr Justice Barr, who said he agreed with the jury's unanimous verdict, noted a report which suggested the man was no longer a danger to anyone in society.
However, if he did not face "the harsh realities of the dreadful harm" he did to his victim, he was only deluding himself.
He said he was also aware that in prisons no therapy was available to sex offenders until near the end of their sentence.