Courts / Dublin / Report

Uncle who raped young niece jailed for 10 years

Summary

Francis Rafferty, aged 68, was convicted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of raping his young niece and sexually assaulting her older sister between 2005 and 2008. He pleaded guilty to the assault of the younger girl, aged nine to twelve, and was found guilty of two counts of rape of that victim and of assaulting the older sister. He was acquitted of two other rape charges he had denied. The court noted that Rafferty had no understanding of the hurt and trauma caused, and that he abused his family position, threatening the girls and giving their parents money to leave the house so he could attack them. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, ordered to undergo sex‑offender treatment, and placed under two years' post‑release supervision. The victims, now adults, gave permission for their uncle's name to be published.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Uncle who raped young niece jailed for 10 years. Charges or matters: sexually assaulting one girl when she was aged between nine and 12 years old between 2005 and 2008. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Acquitted

When:

• 2005 and 2008 Incident
• 2017-07-08 Publication

Why: She said because she was on suicide watch as a child she was unable to protect her sister from her uncle. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Sentence Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report