This article contains references to rape and sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.
By Isabel Hayes
A man who repeatedly sexually abused his wife’s grand-nephew over a five year period while the child was being minded in his home has been jailed for 11 years.
The 46-year-old man was found guilty by a Central Criminal Court jury of 13 counts of anal rape and 18 counts of sexually assaulting the boy on dates between January 2018 and May 2023 following a trial in February.
The child was aged between nine and 14 at the time of the offending, which occured in the man’s home in the south east of the country.
In a victim impact statement which she read out in court on behalf of her son, the child’s mother described how the abuse tore their family apart, with her aunt continuing to stand by her husband.
She said that as well as the effects of the abuse, her son was also left with “an almost grief-like feeling” at the loss of his great-aunt who had minded him since he was young and to whom he was very close.
She said they had placed their trust in the man to mind their child, who has become very withdrawn and continues to have flashbacks and mixed emotions.
“We are hopeful he will come out of this knowing none of this was his fault and what happened to him was pure evil,” she said.
Sentencing the man, Mr Justice Paul Burns said the offending involved a serious breach of trust by the man, who was the child’s great-uncle by marriage and who abused him in his home where the child was being minded by his wife.
He noted the abuse was perpetrated over a number of years, and has had a significant impact on the victim. “It is too early to assess the long-standing effects on him,” the judge noted. He extended his sympathies to the child and his mother and he said he hoped they could continue to make progress.
In relation to the man, the judge noted he has no previous convictions, a good work history and will find this period of incarceration difficult as it is his first time in custody.
He set a sentence of 12 years and suspended the final year on a number of conditions. He ordered the man to remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for a period of three years post-release.
At a sentence hearing earlier this week, a local detective garda told Edward Doocey BL, prosecuting, that the victim was minded by his mother’s aunt from when he was a baby.
The man started abusing the child from when he was about nine years old, touching him inappropriately before the abuse progressed to anal rape. The abuse occurred when the aunt was upstairs or in the bathroom. He told the boy not to tell anyone.
The boy eventually disclosed the abuse, which he said had made him feel “angry, sad and scared”.
When arrested, the man was co-operative. He has a long work history and no history of criminal offending. Colman Cody SC, defending, handed in a number of testimonials and said his client’s wife and siblings were in court to support him.
He said the conviction was a “fall from grace” for the man.