Man, 67, assaulted granddaughter

A 67-year-old man was yesterday remanded in custody when he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexually assaulting his granddaughter over a two-year period from when she was aged 11.

The accused cannot be named as it would lead inevitably to the identification of the victim.

He was arraigned after the call-over of cases from Co Cork at the outset of the sessions of Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

He pleaded guilty to 12 sample counts of sexually assaulting his granddaughter on a 60-count indictment.

Imelda Kelly, prosecution barrister, said they were representative of 60 counts over a period of time and she applied to have the accused remanded in custody pending sentence.

Alice Fawsitt, for the defence, applied for bail.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin put sentencing back until November 15 and remanded the accused in custody until then.

He said: “It appears custody is warranted in a case like this where a sentence is inevitable. It may be a case where the length of the sentence is an issue. Full credit must be given to the man that he did plead guilty and that must be of benefit to the victim. She did not have to give evidence in a trial which must be of some ease to her.”

The charges to which the accused man pleaded guilty were all of sexual assault on the same injured party and they occurred on unspecified dates between April 2014 and May 2016.

Full background details on the nature of the crimes and how they came to be detected will be given at the sentencing hearing.

Ms Kelly said that a victim impact statement would also be prepared for the next occasion in three weeks’ time.