A convicted child sex offender who humiliated and degraded his niece while raping and abusing her over a five-year period has failed to have his 11-year sentence reduced on appeal.
The attacker had called his victim “ugly” and told her while raping her that she “didn’t have to be ugly any more”, his Central Criminal Court sentencing hearing was told.
The 57-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, denied the charges but was found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict in April 2023 of two counts of rape, one count of anal rape and two counts of sexual assault.
The court heard that the offending took place in the west of Ireland between December 2008 and 2013, when the victim was aged between seven and 13. The accused has 12 previous convictions, including a conviction for sexual assault, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison.
Ms Justice Karen O'Connor at the Central Criminal Court sentenced him to 11 years in prison on June 7, 2023. She directed that he remain under post-release supervision for seven years.
The judge noted the man has previous convictions for sexual offending of another child for which he was sentenced to three years in prison.
The man had appealed his sentence, arguing that the trial judge erred in setting too high a headline sentence and in failing to suspend any portion of the jail term imposed.
His lawyers contended the judge had made an error in passing “an excessive sentence”.
In dismissing the man’s appeal today (TUES), Mr Justice Brian O’Moore said the breach of trust involved was “particularly significant”.
The attacker was the girl’s uncle and “clearly used his relationship with her to carry out his abuse”, the judge noted.
Mr Justice O’Moore said the abuse, while not persistent, nonetheless took place over a number of years and the “degradation” visited on the victim was “severe”.
He described the comment made by the man while raping the girl that she “didn’t have to be ugly any more”, as “particularly humiliating”.
The judge said none of the case law relied on by the man’s lawyers supported the submission that the sentence in the current case was “disproportionate”.
Mr Justice O’Moore said the severity of the offences, coupled with the degradation and breach of trust involved “justified the sentence imposed by the judge”.
He also dismissed a “novel” supplementary submission, advanced during the oral hearing of the case, that a lesser sentence than would ordinarily be imposed was appropriate, given the overcrowding of prisons in the State.
Mr Justice O’Moore noted that the sentencing judge had expressly considered suspending a portion of the sentence but ultimately decided against this course of action having regard to a number of factors including the man’s previous conviction of sexual assault on a 15-year-old child when he was 27, his plea of not guilty and his description of the complainant as “a little liar”.
“We do not find any error of principle in this approach,” said Mr Justice O’Moore. “There was no evidence to suggest that the appellant’s rehabilitation would be encouraged by suspending part of his sentence, given these factors.”
The man’s sentencing hearing was told the offending came to light in 2017 when the injured party disclosed the abuse to social care workers while she was in foster care. An investigation began, and the girl was interviewed by specialist gardai.
In December 2018, the accused was arrested and detained. During his interview, he offered denials and “no comment” to questions relating to the offending.
A victim impact statement was read to the court by prosecuting counsel on behalf of the victim.
She said: “My childhood was like any other child. I was never afraid of anything until a monster destroyed me”.
