A 34-year-old man who sexually abused his four-year-old niece and subjected her older sister to “numerous” incidents of abuse from when she was eight until 11 years old has been jailed for seven years.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, appeared before the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Monday for sentencing. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexually assaulting the older child and to one count in relation to her younger sister. The man was aged from 21 to 26 when he abused the girls in their family home.
Det Garda Tom Delaney told an earlier hearing that the abuse of the older girl was reported in 2022 after she had become upset in school when she listened to the lyrics of a song.
She confided in a member of staff who informed the mother of the children. Gardaí were subsequently contacted and it emerged the girl’s younger sister had been abused by the same uncle.
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Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford heard the defendant preyed on his then four-year-old niece when he was babysitting her.
In her victim impact statement the young woman said she still suffers from flashbacks arising out of what occurred to her.
“My heart hurts because of what happened to me. I could not stop wetting myself when I started school. My mum had to bring in a change of clothes for me.
“I didn’t understand emotions and I ended up cutting my right arm because I didn’t know how to communicate or even understand what or why this happened.”
[ ‘Trust for me has been broken’: Man to be sentenced for sexual abuse of niecesOpens in new window ]
The teenager struggles to make eye contact with people and is afraid to go anywhere on her own. She also finds it hard to manage quietness.
“I have to listen to music to blot out the quietness. I am afraid of the quietness because that reminds me of my uncle and that time in my bedroom and what happened to me.”
Her sister, who was abused from the age of eight to 11, also previously read her own victim impact statement in to evidence.
She said the abuse inflicted on her by her uncle made her feel “gross and disgusting”.
“I could not hug anyone in my family. I felt so unhappy in myself. I started to eat and then I gained weight and I would eat more to manage the stress of the abuse that was perpetrated on me. Emotionally, I withdrew from everyone in my family and I tried to isolate myself from my friends.
“Psychologically, I am living in fear all the time. I am scared to be around people.”
The teenager recalled she used to “curl up in a ball” when her uncle touched her. She often “bursts in to tears” when she has flashbacks of what she endured. .
Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford paid tribute on Monday to the two victims whom she said were “very brave” and “a credit to their parents”.
She noted that the man had written a letter of apology to his nieces for the immense hurt he inflicted on them.
He was asked to leave his home when his actions became known. He spent a period in a psychiatric hospital and has also relied on the homeless services.
Ms Justice Lankford said there was an “acceptance of wrongdoing” in the case.
She noted the accused in the case was a “vulnerable man” with intellectual disabilities of a mild nature. She also acknowledged he remained at risk of self harm and suicide. The two victims in the case were also described by the judge as “vulnerable” individuals.
Ms Justice Lankford jailed the man for seven years.
