Retired council worker jailed for six years for sexual abuse of his granddaughter

A retired Dublin council worker has been jailed for six years for the repeated sexual abuse of his granddaughter.

The 71-year-old man began abusing the child when she was aged around nine and continued to abuse her regularly for four years.

The seriousness of the assaults escalated over that time with the man bringing the child to his bedroom to play cards and boardgames before molesting her. When the victim tried to get away her grandfather would become aggressive and threaten her to “keep quiet or it will be a lot worse”.

He would forcefully strip her and pin her down while abusing her. During one attack he threw her across the bed and she hit her head on the headboard.

After comforting her he turned aggressive and proceeded to sexually assault her. The attacks happened about once a week and Judge Martin Nolan estimated the man molested the child over 150 times.

The abuse stopped after the victim’s aunt walked into the man’s bedroom and found him on top of the child.

In a victim impact statement the girl, now aged 18, said she felt fearful of her grandfather. She didn’t report the abuse because she was concerned about how it would affect her grandmother.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of sexual assault committed on dates between June 2010 and May 2014.

Judge Nolan said there was a huge breach of trust and that a child was entitled to trust her grandfather.

He said his grossly reprehensible actions have left the victim greatly traumatised.

Judge Nolan said he must be punished and he refused a defence application to suspend part of the sentence.

Det Garda Ronan O’Reilly told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that he began investigating the offending after receiving an official notification from Tusla in 2017.

The four counts are sample charges from a total of 48 charges.