Judge jails Clare man for nine years for rape that made cousin suicidal

A Clare man has been given a nine-year sentence for molesting and raping his younger cousin which led to her attempting suicide five years later.

The 25-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the now 20-year-old victim, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one charge of rape, four of sexual assault and four of oral rape on dates between June 2003 and September 2005. He has no previous convictions.

The final incident occurred when the accused was 18 years old and his victim was 12. He called her into his bedroom and raped her. She shouted at him to stop and told him he was hurting her.

Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed concurrent sentences totalling nine years and suspended the final three years taking into account all the circumstances. He declared the man a sex offender and ordered that he undergo 18 months post release supervision.

A local sergeant told Paul Carroll BL, prosecuting, that the accused handed himself into gardaí in September 2010 after his cousin ran away from home.

She had written a suicide letter which she had posted to a friend before she called to the accused’s home to confront him.

He then dropped her to a bus but when she didn’t return home two days later he presented himself at the local garda station and admitted that he had molested her when she was a young child.

He initially said that there had been no other sexual activity apart from him touching her. The victim was located and made a statement to gardaí but the man denied her allegations of rape and oral rape.

Paul Greene SC, defending, said a probation report before the court indicated that his client admitted that he had first started inappropriately touching his cousin when he was 12 years old and she was six.

Counsel said reports stated that this behaviour represented “sexual confusion and exploration as a 12 year old” but that his client was then willing to continue with that behaviour for a prolonged period of time.

The woman’s victim impact report said she ran away as 17-year-old to Galway, booked into a hostel and attempted suicide by taking pills with vodka. “Thankfully I failed,” she said.

She said she initially thought her cousin was molesting her because she must have been bold or different from other children. She said she “allowed it to happen” because she was afraid and was worried that his parents or her parents would get into trouble.

“I was forced into making adult decisions,” the woman stated.

She said she realised as a teenager that it was completely wrong but didn’t want to disclose the abuse for fear of hurting her best friend who is the accused’s sister.

She said she started to suffer physically too and would wake about five or six times a night in a distressed condition. She said she eventually was unable to sleep for more than an hour and a half each night and her whole life began to be affected.

She said she felt she was a burden to her parents and that her behaviour put a strain on their relationship. They later separated.

“It has torn my life apart and affected every part of my life, more than I can tell you,” the woman stated.

She said she lost out on childhood innocence, childhood memories and normal family life because of what the accused did to her.