A child who twice disclosed that she was being sexually abused by her father was called a liar and forced by him to write a letter withdrawing the allegations, a court has heard.<\/p>\n
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard when she first disclosed the abuse as a nine year old, she was beaten and isolated in a bedroom for several days without access to the bathroom.<\/p>\n
Six years later, as a 15-year-old, she disclosed at school what was happening to her and her father forced her to write a letter to the authorities withdrawing the allegations.<\/p>\n
The 56-year-old man, who cannot be identified to protect his daughter’s identity, was convicted by a jury following a trial last December of 55 counts of sexual assault of his daughter at the family home on dates between 1995 and 2001. He had denied all charges.<\/p>\n
His daughter told the court during the trial that the abuse took place on a very regular basis over the six year period. It began just before she turned nine years old and continued until she was 15.<\/p>\n
In her victim impact statement which she read to the court, the woman said the abuse had destroyed her childhood and her survival technique had been to shut down completely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fear of telling what was happening kept me in silence,\u201d she said, describing how she suffered physical abuse and threats at the hand of her father.<\/p>\n
She said the hardest thing had been being beaten and isolated in a bare room after disclosing the abuse when she had done nothing wrong. She said her father had torn her family and her world apart. She described suffering flashbacks and feelings of low self esteem and worthlessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am saying to my father today, what you did to me was wrong, so very very wrong. No child should have to go through what I went through,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n
She said she had been overwhelmed that the jury had seen through her father’s lies and found the process of giving evidence in front of him was \u201cemotionally draining and heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognise now I have a voice and can and have been heard. I am not keeping my father’s secrets any more,\u201d said the woman.<\/p>\n
Judge Karen O’Connor told the woman she had demonstrated great courage and strength and it was evident that she was a courageous and strong woman. She wished her the best in her future life.<\/p>\n
Judge O’Connor adjourned finalisation of sentence until February 10 next.<\/p>\n
The prosecuting garda told Sinead McMullan BL, prosecuting, that the victim’s first memory of abuse was her father touching her breast in the bedroom when she was nine years old and her mother walking in.<\/p>\n
The woman said there was a conversation between her parents a number of days later and her father said the child was a liar. She was punished and isolated in her bedroom.<\/p>\n
The court heard the abuse continued for six years and included touching her breast and genital area under and over her clothes as well as her father forcing her to touch his penis.<\/p>\n
The woman said she never said \u201cno\u201d to her father because she would be beaten.<\/p>\n
As a 15-year-old, she disclosed in school what was happening to her. There was an inquiry by the school and social workers and her father left the house in 2001.<\/p>\n
Her father later returned to live in the house and forced her to write a letter withdrawing the allegations which was sent to the authorities. A formal complaint regarding the allegations had not been made to the gardai at that stage and she made a statement withdrawing the allegations.<\/p>\n
Her father left the family home in 2003 and her mother later died. The woman made a formal complaint to gardai in 2016 and the accused was interviewed by gardai. He denied the allegations.<\/p>\n
Michael Bowman SC, defending, said it was correct to commend the woman’s dignity and strength through the trial process, but the court must now decide where on the scale the offending lies.<\/p>\n
Mr Bowman submitted the offences were at the lower end of the scale. He told the court that there were no further allegations of this kind against his client. He said his client was now registered as a sex offender which would have consequences for him into his future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A child who twice disclosed that she was being sexually abused by her father was called a liar and forced by him to write a letter withdrawing the allegations, a court has heard.<\/p>\n
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard when she first disclosed the abuse as a nine year old, she was beaten and isolated in a bedroom for several days without <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n