A man has been jailed for three years for sexually abusing his young cousin at their grandfather’s home in Tipperary.
The abuse started in 2003 when the girl was five years old and he was 14 and lasted until 2006.
The now 37-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, and sample counts of oral rape and sexual assault, at a location in Co Tipperary on dates between May 2003 and August 2006.
The Central Criminal Court heard that during the offending, the victim was aged between five and eight years old, while the defendant was aged between 14 and 17 years old.
The woman outlined in her statement that she had been sexually abused by her older cousin during visits to her grandfather’s house. She said her grandfather had no idea what was happening.
The abuse by her cousin began with sexual touching and escalated to oral rape. The woman also described a rape that occurred in a field when the defendant was about 15 years old.
The complainant said the abuse came to an end around the time of her communion.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said if the offence had been committed by an adult he would set a headline sentence of 12 years but, noting his age at the time, he set a headline of six years.
He said the primary mitigating factor was his guilty plea, but observed it occurred on a trial date and that the man had sought to minimise his actions in reports before the court.
Mr Justice O’Higgins imposed a sentence of four years and suspended the final year to incentivise rehabilitation. He set strict conditions for the suspension including engagement with the Probation Service, offence-focused work and substance abuse supports.
He ordered the man to abide by the sex offender’s notification requirements for 12 months post release. He is to have no unsupervised contact with children without the sanction of the Child and Family Agency.
