Man pleads guilty to sex assault on intellectually disabled daughter

A man who sexually assaulted his intellectually disabled adult daughter after calling to her home drunk will be sentenced next week.

The 75-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter, told gardaí­ on arrest he did not have much recollection of the attack. He said if she said he did it, he must have because she “doesn’t tell lies”.

The man pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexual assaulting the then 34-year-old at her Dublin flat on October 23rd, 1999. He has one previous conviction from 1989 for forgery.

He said he called to his daughter’s flat that night because he was “well oiled” and his girlfriend did not like it when he came home drunk.

The court heard the woman’s parents were long separated. Her mother and some of her sisters were in court to support her, while one of her sisters was present with her father and acted as a defence witness for him. Letters from some of the man’s other daughters handed into court on his behalf.

Detective Garda Ann McGowan told Fionnuala O’Sullivan BL, prosecuting, that the woman told specialist interviewers she let her father into flat and he held her too tight before he put his hands down her pants and touched her breasts. He later lay on top of her.

‘Manky’

She said she eventually managed to push him off her and described feeling “manky and dirty” and worring she might end up pregnant. She later told officers he only “rubbed his thing off my leg”.

The woman (now 51) said writing her victim impact statement made her cry. She had worried nobody would believe her and found it difficult to talk to gardaí­ for that reason.

“It was like my life was taken away from me and it was like it was my fault that this happened to me but it was not my fault. It was my father’s fault,” she said.

“I hope now to achieve my dreams...I hope someday my life will be good and will bring me happiness and peace.”

Keith Spencer BL, defending, told the woman that her father wished to offer “his heartfelt apology for what happened”. He also said that the victim’s sister, who was supporting their father in court, wanted to be part of her life but she felt she needed to look out for their father too.

Judge Melanie Greally told the woman she “very much admired” what she had done in court. “It took great bravery,” the judge said.

The case was adjourned to Monday to allow for the preparation of a medical report for the accused.