A man who sold his mentally impaired daughter for sex is not to face prosecution, a court heard today.
Four other men were jailed by the Central Criminal Court in connection with an attack on the teenager in 1998, but a senior Garda officer said the girl had refused to make a complaint against her father.
Superintendent Tony Finnerty said that although a file had been sent to the DPP in relation to the father he was not to be prosecuted.
The father, who lives in Co Galway, was said to have received around €1.20 for handing over the girl to the men.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said he had sold his daughter "for the price of a pint," and handing her to the men involved "on a plate".
He sentenced three men who pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with the girl and another man, who was convicted of attempting to have sex with her.
The court heard that the girl, who was said to have a mild to moderate mental disability, had suffered a traumatic and abusive childhood, and had lived in care for periods.
She had to receive psychiatric treatment after the 1998 incident and would need back-up support for the rest of her life.
Mr Justice Carney jailed Owen Maughan, who lived in Galway and Christopher Tully, from Belfast, to three years each. Sean McGuinness, from Galway, who has a previous conviction for rape, received a four-year sentence and Peter Murray, from Mayfield, Cork, was jailed for two years.
The final nine months of each sentence was suspended because of the men's guilty pleas. All three had been in custody since being arrested not long after the offences were committed and could soon be released as the sentences date back to the time they were detained.