Extra seven years given to man already in prison for sexual assault

A Waterford man currently serving 10 years for raping a girl has been jailed for a further eight years for sexually assaulting her seven-year-old sister.

Just before his trial was due to start, the 54-year-old man pleaded guilty to sexual assault on the girl on November 20, 2004. The State did not pursue 10 additional counts of sexual assault alleged to have occurred between November 12, 2002 and December 15, 2004.

Garda Joyce Donoghue told prosecuting counsel, Ms Martina Baxter BL, that the girl approached her mother one day and said she had a secret. She told her she did not like the accused and "didn't want to go for spins with him anymore".

She said he touched him in places she did not like to be touched and described an incident where he drove her to his friend's house which was empty at the time. She said he brought her inside and put his hands down her trousers.

When the girl was describing the incident to gardaí she indicated with a doll that he touched her genital area. It went on for about five minutes and afterwards he warned her not to tell anyone or she would be in "serious trouble".

The girl's victim impact report stated she still became nervous and distressed about the incident but seemed to be continuing to bottle her emotions up.

The girl's mother said the family were "devastated, wrecked and torn apart" by the abuse and they felt guilty about letting it happen.

Defence counsel, Mr Roger Sweetman SC, said his client was a hardworking man who had recently retired. He submitted there was nothing to be served by increasing the man's current sentence as both cases were closely connected.

Judge Desmond Hogan described the abuse as a "tragedy" against the girl and her family and urged them not to feel guilty. He said the man had taken advantage of the girl's "youth, innocence and trust".

Judge Hogan accepted he felt remorse and had spared the victim going through a trial but insisted the matter was on "the serious end of the scale" and imposed a eight-year sentence.