Father who blamed 'the Devil' for sexual abuse of daughter jailed for five years

Tom Tuite

A father, who subjected his young daughter to almost a decade of "systemic" sexual abuse, has been jailed for five and a half years.

The accused, who is in his 50s, pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting her intermittently from September 2007 to September 2016.

It began when she was eight, continued until she was 17, when she was studying for her Leaving Certificate, and later she was kicked out of her family home.

The father, who tried to blame the Devil for his actions, showed no emotion at his sentencing on Wednesday morning. He is not being named to protect the victim's right to anonymity.

A defence mitigation plea stated that he was a committed family man who was remorseful and had attended counselling to gain greater insight into the damage he caused. He had no prior convictions.

However, a defence-commissioned psychological report, including an assessment of risk of reoffending, was not shared. That, Judge Keenan Johnson remarked, was disappointing, and he inferred that it was not positive.

Judge Johnson praised the complainant, now in her 20s, for delivering a "powerful and insightful" victim impact statement outlining how she "had her childhood stolen by the criminal actions of the accused".

Revealing how she was left wracked with shame from a young age, she had firmly told her father "that was over now" and "that little girl finally knows that it was not her fault".

The indictment contained 23 charges, but the accused entered guilty pleas to six sample counts on a full facts basis, with most of the offending at their home in the Midlands.

Determined to protect her young siblings, she made a complaint against her father, with the judge praising how she "shone a light into the darkness that is sexual abuse", showing a pathway to justice for other victims who feel helpless about their situation.

Divisional Protective Service Unit Detective Garda Olivia Kelly gave evidence that the abuse occurred in their family home and began while the child's mother, now deceased, was away. He told the girl he was lonely.

The court heard he touched and put his finger in her vagina as he "whispered in her ear", while he had an erection, but he never got her to touch him, and he did not penetrate her with his penis.

After the first incident, and before her mother returned, he brought her for a walk and told her, "We need to stop what we were doing; they were wrong, it was the work of the Devil, and the Devil was trying to get into the family, and it needs to stop".

It continued, and in the rest of the incidents, he got the girl to lie on top of him or gave her a head-to-toe "body rub" with lotion.

He told her not to talk about it, and she kept quiet for years until she confided in her boyfriend after the abuse had stopped.

When the child's mother returned, there were more incidents where he was groping her.

Her mother also got the accused to give the girl the "sex talk", and he took out his genitals to show her, but she ran out of the room.

The court heard her mother was devastated by the revelations and wanted to confront her husband.

A sibling recorded their conversation when they spoke to him about the girl's allegations; he initially denied it, but later admitted the truth.

The mother initially took him back to keep the family together, and she convinced herself it was the work of the Devil, with her support for her daughter only lasting a few days.

Still a teenager, the victim was kicked out of the family home, and one of her siblings told gardaí that the complainant was treated terribly.

When gardaí questioned him, he apologised and said, "But I never robbed her of her virginity or anything. I had a bad thing in my life; it was a bad time in my life. I asked God to take it away; it was only showering and rubbing cream on the body, just holding close."

In a later interview session, he made some admissions about when she was aged 9 – 11 and during a later period of abuse, it was happening once or twice a month, but he did not regard it as molesting, "just touching".

In her victim impact statement, the woman also spoke out that she felt she was the black sheep of the family and a troublemaker, but she was a little girl trying to make sense of it, while her mother believed she made it up. She has hardly any memories of her childhood now.

The last words from her mother on the matter were that she forgave the victim, who was left guilt-ridden for years.

She felt she had lost her parents, whom she had loved, but had poignantly addressed in court her father, saying, "Love is not a free pass and protecting others is more important than staying silent."

Once she made a complaint to gardaí, Tusla, the child and family agency, became involved with the family.

Her father, a foreign national who was described as having a good work history and now living a lonely life, did not address the court.

The judge held that the crimes warranted a seven-year, six-month sentence and, noting the mitigating factors and guilty plea, he suspended the final 24 months on condition that he does not reoffend for five years post-release. He must remain on supervised probation for 18 months after leaving prison and attend counselling to address sexual offending.

Concurrent four-year and five-year-and-a-half sentences were also handed down.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.