Man gets three years for sex assault on girl, 10

A man convicted of sexually assaulting the 10-year-old daughter of his then-girlfriend was jailed for three years yesterday.

He continued to profess his innocence even as he was being brought away to prison. “People are lying and getting away with murder,” the accused said as he was escorted into custody.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin sentenced him to four years with the last year suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The complainant said he lay down behind her, rubbed her back, grabbed her hand and made her rub “his private”. She said he put his penis against her bum and she could feel something sticky on her hand.

The girl’s mother was having a shower at the time. When the victim told her mother what happened, her mother got a plastic bag from a nappy packet and put it over her daughter’s hand and brought her directly to the local garda station.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said the victim — described as a very intelligent child who has recovered relatively well — is fortunate she has a mother who is helping her to deal with the experience very effectively.

The accused said during the trial: “The only thing I can think of is that she was experimenting on me when I was asleep.”

Defence senior counsel, Blaise O’Carroll, said there was little he could say in mitigation yesterday as the accused continued to assert his innocence.

In the witness box during the trial, the 39-year-old said: “It is a fucking disgrace — sorry for cursing — but I’m after being punished for three years over this. I come from a Republican family. We don’t dream of this kind of thing. The blackguarding I got out of this was unbelievable.”

“If I touched that young one’s private parts I would not be here today, I would be after committing suicide. Sorry if members of An Garda Síochána are upset by what I am saying but I believe they should be doing their job and not persecuting people.”