Man gets nine years for raping daughter

A Mayo father who raped his daughter has been jailed for nine years by Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins at the Central Criminal Court…

A Mayo father who raped his daughter has been jailed for nine years by Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins at the Central Criminal Court.

The 48-year-old man was found guilty by a jury on 19 charges of rape and sexual assault on his daughter, who was aged eight when the assaults began.

The 19 counts comprised seven of oral rape and 12 of sexual assault.

He originally faced 56 charges of rape and sexual assault on dates from 2000 to 2003 at venues in Co Mayo and Co Galway but, following legal discussions, Mr Justice O'Higgins directed the jury to return not-guilty verdicts on 20 counts.

One further oral rape charge was later also withdrawn from the jury.

The judge, who certified him for registration as a sex offender, said his crimes constituted an outrageous breach of trust on his vulnerable young daughter.

The now 15-year-old girl gave evidence before the jury of four women and eight men of her father watching porn videos in which men had sex with women who were sometimes dressed as nurses.

She said he would then sexually abuse her and masturbate in her presence.

Her father gave evidence denying her allegations. He had agreed with gardaí that he viewed porn videos but denied that he ever touched his daughter sexually.

The jury took just under three hours to return an 11-to-one majority guilty verdict on day seven of the trial in July. The girl gave her evidence via videolink .

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