A 33-year-old man who sexually abused his young niece when he was a teenager has been jailed for two years.
The man pleaded guilty at Central Criminal Court to eight counts of sexually assaulting his niece at various locations in Co Offaly on dates between 2004 and 2008.
She was aged between six and nine at the time, while he was aged between 13 and 17.
The assaults happened at the girl’s grandparents’ home and involved inappropriate touching, making her perform oral sex and showing her pornography.
On one occasion, his friend hid in a wardrobe and recorded some of the abuse on a phone.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott said while he had to take into account that the offender was a child when he began abusing his niece, his offending continued until he was over 17 years old and he must have known what he was doing was very wrong.
The judge said the abuse had dominated the girl’s childhood and she had to live with the “silence and isolation and mental trauma for years afterwards”.
The court was told the woman started suffering from flashbacks when she was 18 and contacted her uncle on social media to tell him she remembered what he had done.
He wrote back: “I remember too. I hope you’re OK.”
But despite this and further admissions he maintained his innocence and fought the charges until just before his trial at the Central Criminal Court when he pleaded guilty.
While reading her victim impact statement, the now 26-year-old held a framed photo of herself aged six and told the court she was “a cheery, happy and friendly child, which makes it harder for me to accept that that little six-year-old was hiding everything that happened to her”.
She said her uncle was a “manipulator” who manipulated everyone around him and continued to lie about the abuse, even after he confirmed it to her.
She said it was particularly hurtful having to tell her grandfather about the abuse and then wondering why he was protecting his son and not her.
She said she was asked by family members if she was sure she wanted to pursue the case and was told to move on with her life.
“Being told to move on is the highest insult,” she said.
“Because that is what I am doing and I’m doing it as I process the abuse.”
The woman’s grandparents were in court to support their son.
The court heard the man now worked in finance in London.
He told the court he was very sorry for what he had done.
His partner also told the court about the difficulties they will have in the future as a result of his convictions and being on the sex offenders register.
She said they have had to put their lives on hold, including marriage and children, as a result.
Judge McDermott said he had to take into account the age of the offender at the time of the offences and his level of maturity.
While maturity did not necessarily come with age, the judge said he believed he was “an intelligent teenager during the period of abuse and I don’t accept he was not fully aware of what he was doing”.
There was a clear element of downplaying his actions to the Probation Service, he said.
“The history of it does not establish this was a man willing to face up to what he had done,” the judge said adding that acceptance was “very slow paced”.
The aggravating features included the abuse of a very young girl by a teenager seven years older than her who had access to her and abused her “because he could”.
The judge said the abuse had dominated her childhood and she had to live with the silence and isolation and mental trauma for years afterwards and involved a complete breach of trust.
The trauma he had caused to his niece and the responsibility for that lay with him alone, the judge said.
Judge McDermott noted that the victim endured severe anxiety and depression along with suicidal thoughts and her academic and professional prospects had been affected while her self-confidence had been completely undermined.
He said she had the additional burden of reporting the abuse which affected the entire gamut of family relationships and those who may have been expected to support her had been somewhat dismissive of her trauma.
He noted the plea of guilty which came “late in the day” and the proceedings were drawn out.
He accepted the accused had no previous convictions and was not at risk of future offending.
He had developed a highly successful career and relationship which had been challenged by these events, the judge said.
