A 78-YEAR-OLD grandfather who sexually assaulted his four-year-old granddaughter has been jailed for four and a half years.

Sergeant Sheena Dowling told a sentencing hearing at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that the man sexually assaulted the child on five occasions in early 2022.

The child confided in her mother about the abuse. She blurted out what had occurred when her mother was reading a bedtime story to her.

The grandfather of the child initially denied what occurred. However, he ultimately admitted his actions when the parents of the child confronted him.

The father of the child gave a victim impact statement on behalf of his daughter and himself and his wife.

He said that there had not been a single a day since he became aware of the abuse four years ago that he had not felt anger about the actions of his father-in-law.

He added that whilst the offender received help from multiple sources, the victim in the case received little to no assistance.

“He (The grandfather) groomed, used toys as weapons, threatened, tortured and abused a toddler, yet had unlimited access to any physical or mental medical care he needed,” the father of the child told the court.

“His innocent victim has not been as fortunate. Our baby was too young to get the help of a counsellor or psychologist.”

“Play therapy was recommended by our GP to help her make some sense of the life-changing trauma he callously inflicted on her.

“We sat as parents in front of a play therapist who told us she couldn’t see (daughter’s name) as a child’s notes could be available to her abuser’s legal counsel and in her words could be ‘used against her’.

“The therapist agreed to get a second opinion from her colleague and the result was the same, no help for our traumatised child. In what world is it fair where all the help and support is for the paedophile abuser?” the child’s father asked.

He said that no words could capture the devastation the horrific abuse has had, and continues to have, on their beautiful daughter who carries a tremendous burden in life.

“He (her grandfather) should have been her protector to keep her safe. Her grandfather, 70 years her senior, inflicted anguish, confusion, fear, trauma, shame and anxiety on our four-year-old toddler. He was bullying, coercive and threatening to ensure his sadistic secrets would be kept.

“He warned her not to say anything. Looking back, she was always on alert. Every night in bed since she started preschool at three years old, she would ask us who was collecting her from preschool.

“She was checking every night if she would be in danger from her abuser the next day. Once the abuse came out we explained it would always be either me or her Mom collecting her in future and she then stopped asking who would be collecting her.

“Today, at eight years old, she has regular nightmares about the monster who abused her. She is frightened he knows where she lives and will come to get her.

“Despite our best efforts as parents, she has taken on the guilt and shame that should belong to the paedophile who destroyed her innocence and confidence,” the father added.

The father of the victim said that when his child speaks about what she suffered, she covers her face with the bedsheets and regresses to her baby voice.

“She asks ‘Why did he pick me? Why did he do those things to me? Did he not like me?’ She tells (her mother) she wishes she never told his secret because ‘It’s all my fault why you don’t see your dad’ and cries floods of tears.

“The degrading and humiliating things he did are still to the forefront of her mind. She still speaks of what he did to her little infant body as she begged him to stop.”

The court heard that the parents of the child even moved house so they would not be near the defendant. This meant that their children also had to transfer to new schools.

Defence barrister Donal O’Sullivan, SC, said that he was instructed to offer an apology on behalf of his client. He indicated that his client could not furnish any explanation for what had occurred.

Judge Helen Boyle jailed the man for six years, but suspended the last year and a half of the sentence.

She described what had occurred as a massive breach of trust. The age and ill health of the man were taken in to consideration when the sentence was being calculated.

The man, who was without previous convictions prior to this offence, cannot be identified to prevent the identity of the victim.

A guilty plea was entered in the case.