'I struggled a lot in my life,' says Cork woman sexually abused as girl by cousin on sleepovers

The court heard the woman had to remind herself that she was just a little girl and could not have prevented the sexual assaults

Judge Boyle imposed a two-year suspended jail sentence on Stephen Lane. File picture: Larry Cummins

A little girl was sexually abused by her older male cousin during sleepovers at his home and now she has spoken out about carrying a sense of shame for the past 18 years since it happened.

The offences occurred when the accused, Stephen Lane of Dermot Hurley Estate, Youghal, County Cork, was aged between 12 and 15, and the injured party, Zoe Lane, was aged between eight and 11. The victim wanted the accused named and she was happy to waive her own right to anonymity, Judge Helen Boyle said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.