3 years for man who abused babysitter

A sexual abuser with an overwhelming sense of entitlement who went through life with a “me, me, me” attitude was jailed for three years yesterday for sexually assaulting his much younger sister-in-law.

Detective Sergeant Vincent O’Sullivan said the sexual abuse was carried out when the accused was in his 20s and the victim was only 12 or 13.

It happened when he walked her to the bus stop after babysitting. He would stop on the way and bring her into a convent yard and sexually assault her against a wall by pulling down her underwear and putting his penis between her legs.

The accused, who is now 57, denied all of the sexual assaults and was put on trial earlier this month on five counts. The jury found him guilty of four of them at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Det Sgt O’Sullivan said the complainant recently confronted the accused man publically. He was in a shopping centre with his wife – her sister. She met him and confronted him for the first time about sexually assaulting her back in 1982.

The complainant said his response was that it was a consensual affair at the time. Det Sgt O’Sullivan said the complainant was only 12 or 13 at the time.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin imposed a total sentence of four years with the last year suspended, and he said that what characterised the accused was his “me, me, me” attitude and that he had never admitted his crime.

The victim stated yesterday: “I don’t know if people understand that when you’re abused by someone you know it is very frightening to see how that person can interact with others as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. It makes me suspicious of everyone. Are they only pretending to be nice? I felt alone and worthless.

“My transition from childhood to teenager to adulthood was thwarted because of the degrading and demeaning treatment from someone who should have been trustworthy.

“The effects didn’t diminish as the years went by as I became more withdrawn from my family. I became the odd one out. I became angry with those I had confided in because they said they felt powerless to do anything.

“I needed the abuser to see and understand that what he did was wrong and caused so much hurt and damage. It’s not OK to make a person feel worthless and robbed of their dignity for your own gratification.

“It does not surprise me that someone who could do that to a child would not have the decency to plead guilty and spare another human being the despair of a trial.

“It didn’t surprise me somebody who has never contributed to family or society but yet has an overwhelming sense of entitlement to anything and everything that makes his own life easier was not going to admit guilt and would rather put me through cross-examination in court in front of strangers.”