Man jailed for sexually abusing sister when both were children

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A man who sexually abused his younger sister when both were children was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court on 19 June 2023 to two and a half years in prison, with the final 12 months suspended on strict conditions. Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed the sentence.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of indecent assault, four counts of sexual assault and one charge of oral rape. The proceedings were reported on 19 June 2023.

The indecent assault charge related to dates between 3 November 1989 and 3 November 1992 at the family home in a County Wicklow town. The other charges related to dates between January 1991 and November 1996, when his sister was aged between four and ten and he was aged between 10 and 16. The first five charges represented a continuing pattern of abuse.

The court heard that the girl reported the abuse to her parents when she was four. The family attended one counselling session before her father decided they would not return. In July 1991, the family GP recorded that she had been sexually abused by her brother and noted genital injuries. The abuse continued for a further five years.

The judge said the adults had let the girl down. He accepted that the man did not quite understand what he was doing when the abuse began, but said he probably understood its nature as he grew older. He acknowledged the man's remorse, admissions and assistance to gardaí, his lack of previous convictions and reports that he was unlikely to reoffend.

The woman said in her victim impact statement that she did not hate her brother and wanted accountability. The man was not named to protect her identity.