Man jailed for sexual abuse of two girls 60 years ago

By Eimear Dodd

A woman who was abused as a child 60 years ago has told a court she was “gutted” when she found out years later that her young sister had been abused by the same man.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the sisters were separately indecently assaulted when they were children by the boyfriend of their older sister.

The 77-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault on unknown dates between 1964 and 1965 at a house in Co. Dublin.

He can’t be named to protect the identities of the two victims.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that both incidents took place at their family home when they were alone in a downstairs room with the man.

The defendant, then around 16, was a frequent and welcome visitor to their family home at the time.

Judge Elma Sheahan said the court was bound by the legislation in place at the time of offending, which set a maximum sentence of two years.

Judge Sheahan said the court would impose consecutive sentences to reflect the seriousness of the offending and the fact there were two victims.

Having considered the mitigation, she set headline sentences which she reduced to reflect the man’s youth at the time. She imposed a global sentence of one year and two months.

An investigating garda told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that the older girl was approximately nine when the man sexually assaulted her by digitally penetrating her vagina.

She got a shock and ran to her room, and never went near the man again.

The man inappropriately touched her young sister, who was around seven, on a separate occasion. She didn’t understand what was happening, but knew it wasn’t right. She ran out of the room and refused to be alone with him again.

The court heard that both sisters spoke about the abuse they individually suffered at the hands of the man decades before formal complaints were made to gardai in 2022.

When interviewed, the man denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

Both women’s victim impact statements were read to the court by Ms McGowan.

The older sister said the abuse has affected her throughout her life and has effected her relationships.

She said she “spent a lot of my life crying on my own”, and only told her husband about the abuse in recent years. She said telling her children this year was “the hardest thing I had to do”.

The woman said she was “gutted” when she found out years later about his abuse of her younger sister, adding that she felt she should have been able to protect her.

She said she felt ashamed and had kept what happened to herself for most of her life, but now it was time for the man to feel shame.

The younger sister said she was shocked at the time, but didn’t fully understand what had happened until she was a teenager.

She said she was “glad” the man had admitted his guilt and this gave her comfort.

The man has one previous conviction for possession of child sexual abuse material, known in law as child pornography. He was handed a suspended two-year sentence in the late 2010s.

The garda agreed with defence counsel that the man’s guilty plea was early and that he has not come to recent negative attention.

Eoghan Cole SC, defending, said his client wished to apologise for what he did.

He asked the court to take into account his client’s youth at the time and the passage of time since the offending occurred.

He outlined the man’s background and personal circumstances.

His client has a long work history and several health issues.

Counsel noted the man voluntarily attended a Tusla meeting with the first complainant in 2019, but at that point denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Cole said his client “couldn’t bring himself to admit what was done”, but did plead guilty at an early stage.

Imposing sentence, Sheahan said the aggravating factors included the breach of trust, the age disparity, the man’s previous conviction and the impact on the victims.

She said the man’s guilty plea was valuable, noting that it spared the women having to give evidence during a trial.