A DUBLIN MAN who began sexually abusing his younger sister when he was aged 14 and later raped his niece has been jailed for six years.

The 55-year-old man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of indecently assaulting his niece on a date between 1978 and 1980.

The man was convicted by a jury following a trial last year of further counts of indecent assault against his sister and his niece, as well as two counts of raping his niece on dates between 1976 and 1984. The accused man has no previous convictions.

The court heard the man abused his sister when she was aged between seven and 10 years old when he was aged between 14 and 16 years old. He abused his niece when she was aged between five and 11 years old and when he was aged between 16 and 22.

Sentencing the man on Friday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott noted the abuse had affected the victims’ lives in a most profound way and continued to do so. He noted the offences had been committed in a family context in secrecy and committed in circumstances where the young girls could not say anything to anybody.

The impact of the crime

He noted there had been a delay between the commission of the offences and them coming to light in 2012. He noted the complainants had not been able to bring themselves to speak of the abuse and had perceived it would devastate their family if they told.

Mr Justice McDermott said the court had to bear in mind what had happened in the meantime, both in the lives of the victims and in the life of the accused man. He said the man, who has no previous convictions, had established his own family and had worked to support them.

He also took into account the trauma suffered by the victims and the impact on their lives.

The judge noted that the accused had been a very young man when the offending began, but that he was an adult by the time the later offences of rape were committed.

Mr Justice McDermott imposed concurrent sentences totalling six years. He ordered two years post release supervision and ordered that the man should have no contact with the victims himself, through third parties, through social media or any other means.

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