Man jailed for rape and abuse of niece when he was teen

A 30-year-old man from Donegal has been sentenced to five years imprisonment, with the final 18 months suspended, for the rape and sexual abuse of his niece when he was a teenager. The man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to two counts of oral rape and five counts of sexual assault of a child between January 2005 and January 2009. He was aged between 12 and 16 when committing the offences. Justice Karen O'Connor found the abuse had a considerable and continuous impact on the victim and noted the defendant's attempts to normalise the conduct by describing it as a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship. In mitigation, the judge considered that he was a minor at the time, had fully accepted the victim's account, and demonstrated remorse. The suspended portion is conditional on supervision by the Probation Service for two years post-release and participation in sex offender programmes. The victim, now in her twenties and living abroad, did not attend sentencing.