Lengthy prison sentence for man who 'groomed' and raped his stepdaughter

A man has been jailed for nine-and-half years for the rape and sexual assault of his stepdaughter.

The Central Criminal Court heard the 42 year-old man was convicted of ten counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault relating to offences which occurred on unknown dates between May 2018 and December 2021 in a location in Munster.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the injured party's anonymity, was also convicted of two counts of sexual assault against a second complainant during the same period of time.

Passing sentence, Judge Mary Ellen Ring set a headline sentence of 13 years' imprisonment. She said that the aggravating factors in the case were the significant breach of trust and that the injured party came to live with him and grew to consider him a part of the family.

She said the abuse began as grooming and increased to sexual touching, which then progressed to sexual intercourse. She highlighted the close control the accused had over the injured party by walking her to and from work, and she would need to seek permission to socialise with friends.

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Judge Ring said she has to consider the mitigating factors, such as the defendant's lack of previous convictions and his good work history.

Judge Ring sentenced him to 11 years in prison on the counts of rape and seven years for the sexual assault of the injured party. She also sentenced him to two years on each count of sexual assault of the second injured party. All sentences are to run concurrently.

The judge suspended the final 18 months of the sentence for 18 months and placed the man under the supervision of the Probation Services for 12 months post-release.

Judge Ring also ordered the defendant to have no direct or indirect contact with the injured party for five years upon his release from prison.

At a previous hearing, a local detective told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that the abuse began when the defendant pulled down the girl’s pyjamas and, upon seeing her genital area, said, “Wow”. The second incident of abuse was when he removed her trousers and digitally penetrated the young girl. When the girl was 15, the abuse progressed to intercourse, and the girl told gardai that he used a condom.

The court was told that the abuse would take place before the girl's mother returned from work. When the injured party got a part-time job, the defendant would walk her to and from work, which her co-workers thought was “out of the ordinary”. The defendant would also manipulate the girl by telling her that he would self-harm.

In December 2021, the injured party was out with friends and told them about the abuse. One of the friends went to the gardai, and a search warrant was issued for the defendant's home. When he arrived home, he was described as being “quite agitated”. Two phones that belonged to the defendant were seized, and he gave gardai the PIN for one phone.

He denied all the allegations and said that the sexual intercourse began when the injured party was 18 and all contact had been consensual. He also made reference to “a love affair”. A friend of the injured party made a statement to the gardai that the defendant slapped her on the bottom on two occasions.

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A victim impact statement was given to the court, which highlighted the violation of her body. It outlined her deep sense of fear and that she no longer felt safe.

She said her “sense of self-worth has been shattered” and that she has “experienced stress every single day.” She is hopeful that the ending of the court process will allow her to regain control of her life.

The Director of Public Prosecutions said that this offence was in the more serious category and outlined a sentencing scale of ten to 15 years.

The garda agreed with the defence counsel that when the defendant arrived home on the day the warrant was issued and his home was searched, he was quite intoxicated. He agreed that the defendant maintained that it was consensual and that he had videos on his phone to prove it was a love affair.

The garda agreed with counsel that the defendant has no previous convictions and this “is a significant fall from grace”.

Counsel said his client had a difficulty with alcohol and has limited English, and this can make it harder in prison.

He handed testimonials into court on behalf of his client.