A 42-year-old accountant has been jailed for eight years for the “systematic and repeated” abuse of four girls in his office over a 10-year period.
Liam Brien, of Valley Park, Killimor, Co Galway, was found guilty by a jury following a six-day trial last month of 22 charges of sexual assault between 1996 and 2006 when the girls were aged between five and 12.
Judge Rory McCabe said it had been a difficult and bumpy journey for the girls. Bearing in mind the impact on the victims and the systematic and repeated nature of the offences, Judge McCabe said a two-year sentence was merited for each offence.
He imposed a two-year sentence in respect of one charge of sexual assault in relation to each victim, the sentences to run consecutively, bringing the total to eight years. Two-year, concurrent sentences were imposed on the remaining 18 charges.
Brien was also placed on the sex offenders’ register.
