Boys speak of 'robbed childhood' as uncle who raped them is jailed for 12 years

A Galway man who “completely lost control of his moral compass” and raped two of his nephews when they stayed at his mother's house has been jailed for 12 years.

By Brion Hoban and Aoife Nic Ardghail

A Galway man who “completely lost control of his moral compass” and raped two of his nephews when they stayed at his mother's house has been jailed for 12 years.

The man (59), who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping and sexually assaulting his nephews in his family house in Galway on dates ranging from 1991 to 1997. He has no previous convictions.

Today Mr Justice Michael White said the abuse was a “horrific breach of trust” and that it had taken great courage for both victims to come forward with their allegations.

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The judge said that the theft of innocence of young children was a particularly serious crime.

He noted that the man had lived an isolated life, had been abused as a child and suffered from depression and alcoholism.

Mr Justice White backdated the 12 year sentence to December last year when the man went into custody on the matter.

At an earlier sentence hearing a local detective garda told Tara Burns SC, prosecuting, one of the boys was  raped on a weekly basis “at a minimum” while staying in the house between October 1995 and June 1997 when he was 15 to 17 years old.

The court heard the man would enter the spare room where the boy was sleeping. He would then rape the boy before returning to his own bedroom in the house.

The then teenager's brother stayed at the house more infrequently between April 1991 and December 1993 when he was 13 to 16 years old.

On the first occasion he was told to sleep in the man’s bed. The man, smelling of alcohol, got into the bed with him and sexually assaulted and raped him. On subsequent nights he would sleep in another bed in the same room or hide from the man in an attempt to prevent the assaults.

He was given money after each assault and told “that was for staying in Granny’s house.” Both boys were told by the man not to tell anyone what had happened.

In a victim impact statement read aloud in court, one of the young men said he had no respect for himself for years following the abuse.

“I would feel lost and hopeless very often,” he said. He did not finish his education and continues to go to counselling to help cope with the memories.

He said he still had dreams in which his uncle was after him, but since making the complaint he was able to get away.

The second brother's victim impact statement was also read aloud in court. He said that the abuse had “impacted every part of his life” and he felt he had been robbed of his childhood.

The garda agreed with John Jordon SC, defending, that the man said he had been abused as a child. The man declined to name the person who allegedly abused him but said the person was still alive.

Mr Jordon said the accused man apologised unreservedly and that he “didn’t set out to do harm.” He said the man had been “utterly rudderless and had completely lost control of his moral compass”.