Sex assault accused 'considered niece a daughter'

A Longford resident accused of having sex with his wife’s niece told gardai that he considered the girl a daughter after she was given to him on his wedding day to raise as his own child.

A Longford resident accused of having sex with his wife’s niece told gardaí that he considered the girl a daughter after she was given to him on his wedding day to raise as his own child.

Garda David Peak agreed with Mr Garnet Orange BL, prosecuting, that the 39-year-old accused denied in garda interview that he regularly had sex with the girl from the time she was 12 and said “she is a child to me, not a wife or a girlfriend”.