A 36-year-old Co Mayo farmer has been jailed for 13 years by Mr Justice McKechnie at the Central Criminal Court for raping and sexually assaulting two young baby-sitters.
The man was found guilty after a trial in September on 25 charges of rape, unlawful carnal knowledge, attempted unlawful carnal knowledge and sexual assault of two neighbouring sisters who were then aged 13 to 15 years when abused by him.
The jury of four women and eight men returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all 25 charges. The guilty man cannot be named for legal reasons.
Mr Justice McKechnie said the defendant had breached the trust and confidence between the families.
His acts were systematic, frequent and repetitive, and were a shocking violation of the victims who had been burdened for years by this horror of secrecy and shame.
"The strategies and tactics adopted by the defendant could only be described as cunning and calculated in pursuit of the worst of evils of men; doing as he did for naked gratification. He then committed perjury in his evidence to the jury".
Mr Justice McKechnie said it was with some misgiving, in the absence of much in the way of mitigation, that he suspended the final year of the 13-year sentence. The man had no previous convictions, yet the fact he was of low intelligence didn't impact on his ability to realise that what he was doing was wrong.
He said the victim impact reports showed the crimes had a traumatic effect on both girls, and had affected virtually every aspect of their being. However, counsellors were confident they would work through this.