A man who became a trusted member of a family after befriending them has been jailed for 14 years for the continual sexual abuse of two of their young daughters in Galway.
Benedick Joel (46), of Carraig Art, Truskey West, Barna, Galway, was convicted following a Central Criminal Court trial last February of 24 counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted anal rape on dates in 2017 and 2018.
The court heard that 10 counts relate to the sexual assault of the younger sister, while the remaining charges, including the attempted anal rape, relate to the older sister.
Joel had pleaded not guilty to the offences. He does not accept the verdicts of the jury.
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The court heard that Joel was a family friend and referred to as “Uncle Ben” by the children in the family, in recognition of the depth of their affection and respect they had for him.
While both women – now aged in their 20s – wish for Joel to be named in reporting the case, they do not want to be identified themselves.
Mark Lynam, prosecuting counsel, said the abuse initially took the form of Joel carrying out “body checks” on the girls, both in his own apartment in Barna and in their family home. He would also hug them “intensely” while pressing his body up against them.
In one incident, he lay behind one of the girls while she was dozing on the couch watching television. He tried to rape her while she continually said: “Don’t do it, don’t do it.”
Lynam said in another incident with the younger sister, he assisted her in taking a shower after she had broken her leg, and sexually abused her while she was getting washed.
The younger sister was the first to report the sexual abuse, in January 2022. She was 16 when she was first interviewed by specialist gardaí. Her older sister then disclosed she had been similarly abused by Joel.
Joel was arrested but denied that anything inappropriate had occurred.
He has no previous convictions and has never come to Garda attention. He is originally from Nigeria and has been living in Ireland for 22 years. For 20 of those years, he worked as a security guard in McDonald’s on Shop Street in Galway city.
The older sister read her victim impact statement into the record. She said she suffered from depression, anxiety and self-harm and for some time was not able to receive treatment because she could not afford it.
“For over 10 years I carried a weight on my shoulders that I was sure would crush me,” the woman said, adding that it was similar to “a cloud over me with no sunny days”.
She addressed Joel and told him: “I trusted you – my family trusted you – we saw you as a relative.
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“The abuse of trust has been hugely detrimental. You stole my childhood from me – that is something I can never restore.”
Lynam read the younger sister’s victim impact statement into the record, in which she outlined feeling “a constant state of emotional distress, extreme mood swings, suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety”.
She said she struggled in school, and the abuse still impacts her daily life.
She said it did not end when the abused ended – instead it followed her into her teenage years and adulthood. The abuse “shaped the way I see others and myself and the way I navigate the world”.
“I am trying to heal and move forward, but the reality is that what happened to me will always be part of my story,” the woman’s statement read.
Sentencing Joel on Monday, Judge Kerida Naidoo said it was apparent during the trial and the sentence hearing that both women were “exceedingly bright and articulate” and their lives had been “blighted” by the actions of Joel.
The judge acknowledged the “emotional manipulation” of both victims by Joel and said the offences represented “serious degradation” and “a serious breach of trust”.
The judge said it was appropriate that he impose consecutive sentences to reflect that Joel sexually abused two young girls in the one family. He imposed a global sentence of 15½ years, suspending the final 18 months to “encourage victim insight and rehabilitation”.
- The 24-hour National Rape Crisis Helpline, operated by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, can be reached at freephone 1800 77 8888
