A man who raped and sexually abused his foster daughter in west Dublin has been jailed for 12 years by Mr Justice Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
Garda Susan O'Brien told Ms Róisín Lacey, prosecuting, that the man and his wife had fostered 15 other children but no complaints in relation to these were before the courts.
No children had been fostered since the victim in this case made her complaint.
Garda O'Brien said the victim claimed she "still loved her father but knew he had done wrong".
Mr Justice Carney said this case involved a serious breach of trust and noted that while the abuse had started with sexual assault, it escalated over a period of years to rape violence.
He adjourned the final three years of this sentence, taking into account the defendant's guilty plea which he said allowed the trial of another violent person to go ahead. The 52-year-old defendant pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexually assaulting and seven of raping the girl in their west Dublin home between 1995 and 2001.
Garda O'Brien told Ms Lacey the girl was fostered by the defendant and his wife when she was six. She was happy there in the beginning until the abuse started when she was eight.
It began when her foster father called her into his room while his wife was sleeping and touched her. The girl was afraid she would be hurt if she told anyone so the abuse continued regularly.
When she was 10 the level of abuse changed as he would call her into his room and take off her clothes, make her lie on the bed and rape her.
Garda O'Brien said this would occur every weekend and on weekdays and it didn't matter if there was anyone else in the house or not. He would also asked her to perform oral sex on him but she refused. Garda O'Brien said the sexual intercourse became more rough when she was 12 and she would often sustain bruising, cuts or bleeding and would have difficulty walking or going to the toilet.
A pillow was put over her face to muffle her cries.
The girl made a complaint to her foster mother in March 2002 and while there was some disbelief at first, when his wife asked him he admitted it immediately. The social welfare officers were contacted and the defendant left the family home.
Garda O'Brien said while the defendant admitted everything to the gardaí he said he did not penetrate the girl as he was unable to do so. He said he had no reasons for doing what he had done but was extremely remorseful for taking the girl's innocence away.
Garda O'Brien added that the man told gardaí his wife was asleep in the room when he first started "molesting" the girl and that it was a shame she had not woken up as things might not have gotten so far.
Mr John O'Kelly SC, defending, said the defendant had been assessed by psychiatrists to pose little risk of reoffending and also to be suitable for therapy.
Mr Justice Carney certified him as a sexual offender and directed post-release supervision for six years after his release.