Father jailed for repeated rape and abuse of daughter
Sonya McLean and Claire Henry
A 14-year-old girl has told the Central Criminal Court that she is “standing proud and happy that I spoke up” in relation to her father’s repeated rape and abuse of her when she was a younger child.
The 45-year-old man pleaded guilty to four charges of rape and eight charges of sexual assault of his young daughter in their Co Wexford home on dates between January 2022 and June 2024.
The State accepted these pleas on the basis that they were sample charges and representative of a pattern of repeated abuse of the girl from the time she was 11 years old.
The girl’s mother and the accused’s wife read a victim impact statement she had prepared, in which she repeatedly praised the courage and bravery of her young daughter.
She said her daughter’s life has been “profoundly impacted” by the abuse, but she said the girl has shown “extraordinary courage and bravery”.
“She stood here with dignity and courage to face a man who should have loved her and kept her safe.”
“Today she stands tall and has demonstrated more bravery than most people will show in a lifetime. I am immensely proud of her,” she said.
“She is a remarkable young woman, loving, caring, kind, respectful, thoughtful and polite. She always has a smile on her face. She is courageous, strong and a fighter. She has a kind heart and possesses strength far beyond her years,” the woman continued.
“She never allowed these actions to define her. She is defined by the incredible courage she has shown in speaking out and speaking her truth.”
“She is my hero. She continues to demonstrate love, kindness and compassion to all those around her,” her mother said.
The woman spoke of how her husband supported her when she finally got the courage to report to the gardaí in January 2024, the abuse that she herself had suffered as a child.
She described it as “a betrayal beyond words” that the husband she had been with for 24 years, a man who understood that her greatest fear as a mother was that her own children would be abused, “was sexually abusing our daughter at the same time”.
“You knew all of this, and you still made my fear come true,” the woman said, turning to speak directly to the man.
She said she could never believe that the man she had been with since she was 15 years old “was capable of such horrific acts”.
“He was aware of my own childhood sexual abuse and my determination to protect them (their three children) from ever experiencing the trauma I experienced, yet he became the person I was trying to protect them from”.
The girl took the stand to read the final part of her victim impact statement to her father as he sat in the dock.
She said he made her life a living hell – “you made me afraid to be in the same room or under the same roof as you”.
“I am standing proud and happy that I spoke up,” the girl said before she pointed at a large group of supporters sitting in the body of the court – “look at all the people who came here and believed me today”.
The abuse came to light in March 2025 when the then 14-year-old girl phoned her older brother and told him that their father had been sexually abusing her. She then told her mother, and it was immediately reported to gardaí.
The girl made two attempts to sit down with specialist gardaí to be interviewed, but she was unable to continue with the process until November 2025.
Her father was interviewed and admitted that he had touched his daughter inappropriately after removing their clothing. He denied the allegations of rape made by the teenager.
A local detective told the court that the teenager told gardaí that she was first abused when she was 11 years old. She asked her father to stop more than once. She said she was “pretty sure” he had raped her five times or more and sexually abused her regularly – “about twice a week”.
Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Paul McDermott said the voice of the victim is always important to hear from the court’s point of view, referring to the victim impact statement read out at a previous hearing. He said it expresses the way the offending has had an impact on the victim, highlighting the “fear” the child was put under.
McDermott spoke directly to the injured party in this case and said, “In many of these cases the perpetrator does not believe that the victim will stand up and come forward. People may think that they will not be believed, but you are an example to them that they will be believed.” He said there is a process that works and serves a victim like the girl.
Mr Justice McDermott said there must be a lengthy prison sentence. He sentenced the man to 13 years for the rape of his daughter and seven years and six months for the sexual assault, all of which are to run concurrently.
He suspended the final 12 months of the sentence for three years and placed the defendant under the supervision of the Probation Service, where he is to follow all directions and treatments deemed necessary by them.
The judge ordered that the defendant is to have no direct or indirect contact with the injured party, including via social media, unless written permission is given by the girl's mother while she is under the age of 18 or after she turns 18; the girl must give written permission to the defendant before any contact can be made.
The defendant is to have no unsupervised access to anyone under the age of 18.
Finally, Justice McDermott said there are clear concerns expressed by the Probation Service, and there is no clear understanding as to why this offending occurred. He placed the defendant under post-release supervision for eight years.
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.
