A RESIDENT of Roscommon has been jailed for four years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court for repeatedly having sex with and indecently assaulting his younger sister in the 1980s.
The man was aged 16 and his sister 13 when the abuse started, and it continued for seven years until a family member walked in on the accused lying naked on top of his sister.
The 45-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to six counts of indecently assaulting the girl and six charges of incest in a Dublin house on dates between September 1st, 1980 and February 28th, 1987.
Mr Justice Carney noted that incest was not criminalised at one time and that since it became an offence the maximum penalty has progressed from seven years to 20 years to the current maximum of life imprisonment.
He said the maximum sentence applicable for this offence at the time it was committed was seven years, and if he were not constrained by such a low maximum term, he would have imposed a higher sentence. He imposed concurrent sentences totalling four years, taking into account the mitigating factors.
He ordered two years’ post-release supervision, and registered the man as a sex offender.
Garda Deirdre Tobin told John O’Kelly SC, prosecuting, that both parents in the household had been out at work, and that the accused had effectively been in charge of minding his younger siblings.
Defence counsel, Luán Ó Braonáin SC, said the accused had made an attempt on his life following the Garda interview, but had since attended therapy. He said there were experiences of abuse in the man’s background, but that he was not seeking to off-load blame.
Mr Ó Braonáin said the accused had been put into a position of responsibility inappropriate for his age. He said the accused had written a letter of apology taking responsibility for the abuse.
The impact of these revelations on the accused man’s life had been considerable, he said, and he had already suffered a degree of punishment. He said he had suffered a huge degree of embarrassment and shame.
Mr Ó Braonáin said the accused is extremely remorseful and wished to convey his apologies to his sister.