A GRAND-UNCLE who plied his niece's son with expensive gifts and then sexually molested him has been jailed for four years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Michael White told the Dublin man that only his guilty plea saved him from a longer jail term.
The victim's mother addressed the abuser from the witness box and said: i. "You abused my trust and you abused my child." She said her son had been a bright student who got high grades and had high ambitions. But he was now withdrawn and was failing at school and had become abusive towards his younger sister. He was unable to talk about the abuse and had refused to continue with the counselling.
The 53-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges of sexually assaulting the now 14-year-old boy on dates from August 1995 to April 1996. His name cannot be revealed to protect his victim's identity.
The offences came to light when the boy became upset while playing with friends. One of them told his father, who went to the victim's family to break the news.