A former army sergeant has been sentenced to 12 years with six suspended after pleading guilty to raping and sexually assaulting his daughter for over a decade.
The abuse began in 1975 when the victim was five years of age and continued until she left the family home at the age of 17.
Lorraine Mulvey, now aged 41, told the Central Criminal Court that during that time she thought the abuse was normal behaviour.
She said she now suffers from low self esteem and low self worth. She said she feels so much disgust with her body that she has never allowed anyone to see her naked.
Ray Mulvey (66) of Ferney Grove, Mahon, Cork, pleaded guilty to seven charges of the sexual assault of his daughter between August 1975 and August 1988 at various locations in both Co Kildare and Cork.
He also admitted raping her on an unknown date between August 1987 and August 1988 in the family home in Cork.
Mulvey, who can be named because his daughter has waived her right to anonymity, stared at the ground as the sentence was read out.
Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced him to 12 years in prison but suspended the final six years on the condition that he stays away from his daughter. He also ordered that Mulvey be supervised for 18 months after his release.
Mr Justice Carney said he took the breach of trust into account as well as the age of the victim and the fact that she had been “groomed” over a long period of time.
During the sentencing, Detective Garda Sean Stack told prosecuting counsel, Cathleen Noctor BL, that the man began abusing his daughter when the family was living in an army house at the Curragh.
Ms Mulvey told her mother about the abuse in 1997. When her mother confronted her estranged ex-husband, he admitted the abuse.
She went to gardai three years later and the man told them that the abuse happened at least once a month.
He said he didn’t find it unusual when she didn’t try to stop him raping her. He believed that his behaviour was caused by something wrong with his mind and that he couldn’t control himself.
Ms Mulvey said that as a result of the child abuse she had “worn a mask” for years, saying: “I can now take off the mask. I would encourage anyone who has been abused to report it”.
She said she was not afraid of the abuse at the time because it was her father and she thought it was normal.
But, she said, she knew something was wrong and imagined everyday telling someone or hoping someone would notice something different about her.
Ms Mulvey said the abuse had a bad affect on her relationship with her mother and sister but that their support since she told them about the abuse has given her courage.
She told the court her father would frighten any boyfriends away and she wondered what her life would be like if she had a father and not a sexual abuser.