Man who ‘mistook daughter for partner’ guilty of sexual assault

A man told gardaí­ that he sexually assaulted his 15-year-old daughter because he mistook her for his partner after he got into bed feeling groggy.

The 37-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of his daughter, was convicted by a Dublin Circuit Court jury of sexually assaulting the girl as she and her younger sister took an afternoon nap with him before a trip to the cinema.

He had pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault at an address in Dublin on July 26th, 2015. It was the second time the case had gone to trial.

The court heard that the man told gardaí­ in interview that he was groggy when he went to bed with the girls and mistook his daughter for his partner.

A victim impact report was read into the record by Karl Finnegan BL, prosecuting, in which she stated that she had looked up to her father as a child.

“I thought he was smart but I now think of him as a stranger. He is separate from the Dad I looked up to,” the teenager said.

She said she was jealous of her friends’ relationships with their fathers and wished she could have a good relationship with her father.

Felt dirty

She said after the abuse she felt dirty, could not sleep and found it hard to trust others.

“I have fond memories of my Dad that I try to hold onto. Once we were a happy family. I wanted my father to finally face the truth,” the girl said, referring to the jury’s verdict.

Judge Martina Baxter asked Blaise O’Carroll SC, defending, if his client accepted the verdict of the jury. She described the remorse he had since expressed as “self-serving”.

“He is sorry for himself. He is crying for himself,” the judge said, referring to the fact that the man was in tears during the evidence.

“He doesn’t seem to have any concern for his child. This was a re-trial.”

The judge remanded the man in custody and adjourned sentencing to December 17th next.

She ordered a report from the Probation Service to particularly address the man’s risk of re-offending and the involvement he should have with his daughters in the future.