Man gets 14 years for raping son

A 52-year-old man who systematically sexually abused his young son for three years has been given a 14-year sentence by Mr Justice Barry White at the Central Criminal Court.

The now 20-year-old victim said he feels he now has a stigma attached to him and described in his victim impact statement how he never had a childhood. He said he had lived in fear and described how he lay awake waiting for his father to come and abuse him.

The convicted man, who can not be named to protect the identity of his victim, was found guilty by a jury last month of 11 charges of anal rape; 12 charges of oral rape; and 24 charges of sexual assault of the boy on dates between April 11, 2001 and June 23, 2004.

The offences occurred while the child was aged between 12 and 15 years old.

Mr Justice White told the man that the consistent sexual abuse of his son was all the more reprehensible because he was the head of the family and it was an appalling breach of the trust and innocence of a child.

He described the complainant’s victim impact statement as poignant and said while there were other matters regarding family life outlined in it “that would appal any right-thinking person” those could not be visited upon the accused in relation to this case.

He said while a life sentence would not necessarily be inappropriate he was of the view that a determinate sentence was more satisfactory from the victim’s and the accused person’s point of view.

He imposed concurrent sentences totalling 14 years and suspended the final 18 months taking into account the man’s previous lack of convictions.

Regarding other mitigating circumstances he said the man had “shown no remorse, proffered no apology and was in denial as regards his offensive behaviour.”

He said he did not believe post release supervision was necessary in this case.

Ms Aileen Donnelly SC, prosecuting, outlined how the father began abusing his son when the child was 12 years old and would come into the bedroom the boy shared with his two brothers, put his hands under the covers and touch him intimately through his clothing.

She said the boy was also regularly sexually assaulted by his father during this time and if he refused to participate he would be hit. From September 2001 the boy was raped by his father anally and orally until the time he left home in June 2004.

The boy would be left baby sitting and he slept with a knife under his pillow because he was afraid.

Ms Donnelly said the boy’s mother had given evidence that she witnessed rapes but did nothing to stop it at the time. She said that “any semblance of parental propriety” was absent in the household.

The court heard the convicted man has one previous conviction for a road traffic offence.

The complainant outlined in his victim impact statement how as a result of the abuse he never had a childhood and feels he now has a stigma attached to him “that lad who was abused by his father.”

He said it was an “awful thing to live in fear” and described how the only happy memories he had of his father were going fishing and going to the pub. He described how family life centred around the pub.

He said he knew he was different to other children when he saw that they were happy to go home from school and heard about the things they did with their parents. He said he never looked forward to going home.

The complainant described how he felt afraid as he lay in bed waiting for his father to come and abuse him. He said he had lived in fear of his father all his life and had been threatened not to tell anyone about the abuse.

He said the pain of the abuse was terrible but his father never cared and just hit him when he tried to stop it.

He said the only true thing his father said during his defence evidence to the court was that “you would have to be a pure deranged animal” to perform those acts.

The man said his father had never shown remorse and during his evidence had tried to blame everything on him.

He said he hated his father and would never forgive him. He said: “He has given me life sentence and I think he should be given a life sentence.”

Mr David Goldberg SC, defending, said it had been “an immensely difficult case” for all those involved and while “it might occur to some people there was some sort of psychiatric deficit” in the mind of the accused a psychiatric assessment had revealed he did not suffer from “any psychosis or illness of the mind.”

Mr Goldberg said the accused continued to deny the offences. He urged the court not to engage in “vengeance or revenge” and impose a determinate sentence rather then a life sentence. He asked Mr Justice White to show what leniency he could.

Ms Donnelly said the Director of Public Prosecutions considered the case to be at the upper end of the scale or seriousness as his father was in a position of trust and was a dominate figure in the household.