Fiona Ferguson
A man who sexually abused his two younger sisters when they were children in the 1970s in circumstances of poverty, parental neglect and alcoholism has been jailed for six years and four months.
His sister described her “unwanted horrific memories” from the cold, damp house where she grew up and told the court how she felt she could not tell her parents what was happening.
The Central Criminal Court heard she believed health issues she had later in life were a result of the abuse and extreme stress she had suffered at the hands of her brother. The woman added that hopes she would get justice and her brother would realise the effects of his actions.
Never said sorry
In a victim impact statement, her sister addressed the accused, telling him that despite the fact he had robbed her of her childhood and never said sorry, she did not wish for him to receive a long sentence.
The 62-year-old Kilkenny man had admitted indecently assaulting one of his sisters but denied raping her and denied any offences against another sister.
The man, who cannot be named to protect his sisters’ identities, was convicted of indecently assaulting one of his sisters on dates between 1973 and 1979 following a trial last December.
This sister was aged between five and a half and 12-years-old at the time of the abuse.
He pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting the second sister on dates between 1976 and 1979. He was convicted by the jury of raping this sister on a date between 1978 and 1979. She was aged between 12 and 15-years-old when she was abused.
The accused man was aged between 15 and 22 when he abused his sisters at the family home.
The man has four previous convictions for sexually assaulting a young relative in the mid 1990s. He received a two-year suspended sentence for this offence in 2005.
Poverty & disfunction
Passing sentence on Monday, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said during the trial the court had heard upsetting details of the level of poverty and dysfunction in which the family had lived. She said it was a testament to the sisters that they had survived and prospered as adults.
She noted the children’s circumstances would have been difficult enough without sexual abuse, but that abuse by their brother had taken away what little moments of good could be found in the sisters' young lives.
Ms Justice Ring said in cases such as this, the children reared each other and needed more than others to be able to rely on each other. She said the accused man had breached that trust.
She noted the girls had been abused in what should have been the safety and security of their family homes and beds by an older brother, which added to their vulnerability.
She said the accused man was also a juvenile when the abuse began and that he too had grown up in a dysfunctional home which had effects on him. He alleged he had also been sexually abused.
The judge noted he had made admissions in relation to one of his victims before she had made a complaint. He had also co-operated with the garda investigation and had a number of health issues.
Ms Justice Ring said concurrent sentences were not appropriate in this case as the accused had made a choice to extend his abusive behaviour to a second sister and followed it with an incident of rape.
She imposed consecutive sentences totalling 10 years and 10 months and suspended the final four and a half years. She backdated it to when he went into custody last May and ordered him to have no contact with the women, directly, indirectly or via social media.
Abuse
The investigating garda told Elis Brennan SC, prosecuting, that the younger sister described how shortly after she started school, she would wake at night to find the accused man at the foot of her bed, sexually abusing her.
She said she was in excruciating pain and would ask him to stop. She did not feel that she could tell her parents and the abuse continued until she was 12-years-old.
The second sister described how she was also sexually abused at night by her brother, and on one occasion when she was 13-years-old, he raped her.
When she was 15-years-old, she confronted him and told him it had to stop, before telling her mother. The abuse of both sisters stopped at this point.
The younger sister made a complaint to gardaí in 2018 and asked the second sister to accompany her. The second sister also later made a complaint to gardaí.
The second sister said she had confronted her brother a few years previously and he had given her €1,000 not to go to gardaí which she said she instantly regretted.
When interviewed in relation to abusing his younger sister, the man admitted indecently assaulting the second sister but denied any other offences. He made the admissions before she made her complaint to gardaí.
Colman Cody SC, defending, said the family circumstances had been very challenging and asked the court to come to a fair and objective assessment of the impact of the actions of his client. He submitted his client had been a child for a considerable part of the offending.
He outlined that his client had said he was a victim of abuse himself and may have had a distorted view of acceptable behaviour. He submitted that once matters were reported by his sister to their mother, the abuse of the girls stopped.
A medical report outlined the man has been diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder. Two character references handed into court describe him as a “hardworking man”.
Counsel said a new faith followed by his client had a beneficial influence on him, adding that he has been of good character since the offences in the 1990s.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
