Man gets three years for abusing daughter

A three-year jail sentence was imposed today on a 52-year-old man who sexually assaulted his own daughter from the age of eight.

Today the judge criticised "pig ignorant members of the community who had ostracised the victim".

The defendant had been in jail for the past week after a jury found him guilty of 27 counts of sexually assaulting his daughter over a five-year period.

Judge Sean O'Donnabhain said the defendant could serve half of the sentence with the balance suspended. The judge also put him on the register of sex offenders for ten years.

"This girl went through a harrowing time because of this man. This girl has been ostracised by some pig ignorant people up around there," the judge said.

The defendant said to his daughter in court, "I am sorry I abused you, I love you very much. I want to be back with you."

Prosecution barrister, Donal McCarthy, said: "Do you accept that your daughter is right in every way, do you accept she is telling the truth?" He replied, "I do."

Judge O'Donnabhain said that the victim had been somewhat helped by what had been said in court by her parents and he hoped that she would begin to recover.

He noted from the victim impact report that the 18-year-old had nothing but gratitude and praise for the way the gardai dealt with her complaint.

The judge said: "Garda outsiders in uniforms believed her when her own would not believe her."