Man sexually abused as a child awarded €130,000 damages

A man sexually abused as a child by a family friend has been awarded €130,000 damages, including €25,000 aggravated damages, by a High Court judge.

Mr Justice Anthony Barr said he was satisfied the now 21-year old man had told the truth about the abuse inflicted by the now 67-year-old male.

The judge was entirely satisfied the abuse began when the boy was aged seven, continued until he was aged ten and took place in the man’s car and living room.

The plaintiff’s account of suffering abuse while in the man’s car was given in a “clear and straightforward” manner with specific details in relation to two particular trips, he said.

The plaintiff’s consistency in relation to the allegations was not due to any pressure which may have been exerted on him by his mother but because the allegations were true, the judge said.

The plaintiff told the court the abuse took place when the man brought him on delivery runs in his car when the boy was on holidays at the man’s house.

The man was convicted in the District Court in relation to sexual assault of the boy and served nine months in prison.

In his counter-claim to the plaintiff’s High Court civil action, the man alleged the plaitiff had been told to tell lies by his mother. It was also claimed the allegations only came to light after the man won damages as a result of injuries received in a traffic accident.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Barr found the man was lying when he said he did not abuse the boy.

“It may also be that over time he has convinced himself of the veracity of this lie, that does not detract from the fact that his denial was indeed a lie.”

The man served a prison sentence and has paid his debt to society and there was no question of the court imposing any further punishment on him, the judge said.

The judge accepted evidence from an expert witness for the plaintiff that his circumstances came within the Child Sex Abuse Accomodation Syndrome in that he had to adapt himself to “a highly stressful and secretive situation that he did not understand and which caused him great anguish”.

Despite that, the plaintiff had the courage to report the abuse, the judge said. After that, he had to cope with, among other things, his mother doubting him, the denial of the abuser, the loss of family contacts, the stresses associated with the investigation process and the criminal trial that followed, he noted.

The plaintiff was entitled to some €25,000 aggravated damages because his abuser alleged he deliberately told lies over a number of years and his High Court case was an effort to wrongly extract money from the abuser, the judge added.