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‘Deviant father figure’ jailed for sexually abusing granddaughter and nephew

Judge says case ‘raises serious questions’ as to how children were left in ‘so-called care’ of man and his wife

The man is already serving a 16-year sentence for sexually abusing his daughter who became pregnant with his child when she was just 17. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh

Isabel Hayes
Mon Nov 13 2023 - 17:10

A “deviant father figure” who sexually abused his granddaughter and nephew has been jailed for life.

The 66-year-old and his three sons, aged 39, 40 and 41, were convicted of a total of 115 counts of sexually abusing four family members, who were all children at the time, following a Central Criminal Court trial last May. His sons were last week given jail terms of between 11 years and 16½ years.

The man is already serving a 16-year sentence for sexually abusing his daughter who became pregnant with his child when she was just 17. This baby was brought up by him and his wife as their own.

The man’s 64-year-old wife was jailed last week for two years for assisting one of her sons after he raped her granddaughter and for one count of assaulting the same child.

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The man was also due to be sentenced last week, but the court heard he was in hospital. He was found guilty of 24 charges including two charges of raping his granddaughter and 22 charges of rape against his nephew. He does not accept the verdicts of the jury and continues to maintain his innocence.

The three-week trial heard that the alleged offences occurred between 1999 and 2005 in various locations around the country.

The four complainants in the case are the couple’s daughter, their granddaughter and their two nephews, whom the couple fostered for a period of time.

Sentencing the man on Monday, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said he was a “deviant father figure who abused and mistreated his wife and children, his grandchild and extended relatives”.

“He was the father, not the grandfather, of his daughter’s child,” she said. “He ruled his family and his extended family unit with an iron fist...The fear they felt was secondary to the physical invasion he carried out on their young bodies.”

Ms Justice Ring said the man has exhibited no remorse or acceptance for his offending against the young, vulnerable children in his care.

“This case is encapsulated by the words of Mr Justice Charlton: ‘he was engaging in a campaign of rape, which shows a particularly remorseless attitude’,” the judge said. “I can’t think of more appropriate words to describe the years of violence and terror [perpetrated by the man].”

Ms Justice Ring set a headline sentence of life imprisonment. She ruled that the mitigating factors in the case – the man’s age and health status – would not affect that headline sentence. She handed down life sentences for each of the offences.

The judge last week noted that the children in the case “had their rights to be safe, to be fed, to be educated, to be protected breached over and over and over again”.

“They are here because they have faced their fears, faced down their abusers and reclaimed their self-worth from the people who paid no heed to their rights,” she said.

She said the case “raises serious questions as to how these children were left in the so-called care” of the man and his wife, where they were sexually abused and raped.

She noted the children were often hungry and relied on the kindness of strangers. They had no access to consistent education and suffered “significant mistreatment and abuse”.

The man’s granddaughter previously gave a victim impact statement, which was read out by Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting. This woman was regularly abused by the 66-year-old man as well as two of her uncles.

“I am constantly looking over my shoulder and thinking they will come after me,” she said. As a result of the abuse, she said her family has been torn apart and she has difficulty visiting her parents and siblings because of her extended family.

“I now want to live a life free of fear and their actions,” she said.

The man’s other victim – his nephew - said he remains in fear to this day and it never goes away. This man was regularly sexually abused by his uncle.

“Words have not yet been invented to describe the pain [my uncle] put me through,” he said. “The betrayal killed me inside.”

He said he still lives in constant fear.

“It never goes away,” he said. “I have fear in my heart and my head. I’m always nervous.”

The court heard the man has 185 previous convictions, including 99 for the sexual abuse of two of his daughters.

Defence counsel asked Ms Justice Ring to take into account the fact the offences he is currently in jail for occurred during a similar time to the offences in this case.

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