A MAN WHO “destroyed” his younger sister’s childhood by sexually abusing her while he was a teenager has been jailed for five and a half years.

The Central Criminal Court heard that the Dublin man sexually assaulted his sister on dates between January 1987 and August 1991.

The 53-year-old pleaded guilty to nine sample counts including indecent assault and two of oral rape.

His victim was around seven when the then 15-year-old started to abuse her in his bedroom in their family home, at a laneway and in a field in Co. Dublin by forcing her to perform oral sex and to touch him inappropriately. He can’t be named to protect her anonymity.

Today, Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed a global sentence of six year and six months, with the final 12 months suspended for two years on strict conditions.

He said the man committed “serious sexual offences” on his younger sister and that it was “clear” that the defendant knew what he was doing was wrong. He said the man committed the offences “in secrecy and in locations where he knew he would not be seen or caught”.

The judge said he had considered the man’s personal circumstances, mitigation and that he was aged between 15 and 19 at the time of offending when constructing the sentence.

Mr Justice McDermott said the “abuse was repeated so often it became a dominating feature” of the girl’s life and the man took “almost every opportunity” to abuse her.

Reading her victim impact statement at an earlier hearing, the woman said the man “groomed me to ignore what occurred and see [him] as a loving and caring brother”.

She said a big brother is supposed to protect their little sister, but hers didn’t.

“I loved and idolised you”, she said, adding that the defendant had “destroyed my childhood” and “took my innocence”.

She said “keeping a secret like this almost took me to the edge” and her relationships also suffered due to feelings of shame and low self-worth.

She said “protecting my family from destruction was always my goal” and that she decided not to disclose the abuse for their sake. But, she said she felt she could “finally face my demons” after their deaths.

She said the man “took so much from me” and “shattered my reality”.

She said the abuse affected her self-esteem and mental health. She also suffered with nightmares and flashbacks.

She said she consumed alcohol and found it difficult to regulate her anger. “When you are so full of pain, you tend to take it out on people you love,” she said.

But she told the man he hadn’t broken her. “You’ve shattered me into a million pieces. But I’m filling those pieces with gold”.

“You were my brother, you were supposed to protect me but you didn’t. You destroyed what should have been a happy childhood and replaced it with fear and anxiety”.

She said “you took my identity and controlled me for many years, but now I can say I’m free”.

The court was told that the victim estimates the abuse took place in the field at least 50 times, but told gardaí it happened so many times she couldn’t count. The abuse ended after the girl started secondary school.

The court heard that the girl went to a local garda station in 1995, when she was about 15, and gave some details and social services were notified. However, the victim didn’t feel able at that point to go into the full details as she didn’t want to disclose the abuse while her parents were still alive as she was concerned what her father would do to her and the defendant.

She told her husband and a sister about the abuse in the early 2000s and made a formal complaint to gardaí in 2018.

The man has four previous minor, unrelated convictions.

He met gardaí voluntarily for interview and denied the allegations.

An initial trial date in 2023 could not go ahead and a second trial date in October 2024 also didn’t proceed as the man was admitted to hospital in advance due to self-harm. He entered guilty pleas a short time later.

An investigating garda told Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, that the abuse took place in the family home on days when the parents would leave to do shopping. The teenager would call his younger sister into his room, and when she’d refuse to go, he would tell her she’d get in trouble if she didn’t.

The defendant would force the girl to perform oral sex and to touch his penis. When the girl asked him why, the teenager told her it made him happy.

The court heard that the abuse occurred on numerous occasions in the family home and the girl had places in the house where she’d hide from her brother.

The court heard the boy also sexually abused his sister in the same manner in other locations, including a laneway near their home and in a nearby field.

The investigating garda agreed with defence counsel that social services made some inquiries after the victim made a complaint to the ISPCA about physical abuse by her parents, but these did not proceed.

It was further accepted that the man told gardaí he had been victim of sexual abuse when he was younger.

Reading her victim impact statement, the woman told the man that he had no control over her mind anymore and she would walk away from the court with “relief” as the weight she had been carrying for so much was gone.

She thanked her husband and siblings, One in Four and other services for their support. She said these supports helped her to find the strength to acknowledge the hurt she’d endured.

“The road to the end has been long and horrible,” she said. “One that I wouldn’t want anyone to walk.”

She told other people who had experienced abuse to “remember you have a voice and it’s never too late to take back your voices”.

Mr McGillicuddy outlined his client’s background to the court. He has a long work history, but has not worked in some years due to a workplace injury.

A testimonial from the man’s wife was provided to the court, which outlined his support for his family. He has a number of children, including from a previous relationship.

The man has a history of alcohol and cannabis use, but now abstains from alcohol and has reduced his cannabis use.

Counsel noted reports handed to the court outline his client’s longstanding history of mental health issues, including depression, suicidal ideation and incidents of self harm.

He is doing well in custody and is willing to engage with the Probation Service upon his release, the court heard.

Defence senior counsel Tony McGillicuddy said his client wished to apologise to the victim and the court and recognises the scale of his wrongdoing.

He asked the court to take into account his client’s guily pleas, his young age at the time of his offending, his physical and mental health issues, and the contents of several reports.

Mr Justice McDermott noted the impact on the victim, adding that abuse by a sibling can be “more damaging” due to “betrayal, trauma and social and family disruption”.

He said it can be “more difficult” to report offending within a family and requires “exceptional strength and courage” to come forward.

Having considered the aggravating factors, the judge said he would set a global headline sentence of 12 years for an adult, which he reduced to nine years to reflect the man’s youth at the time of the offending.

Mr Justice McDermott noted that a probation officer had expressed “dissatisfaction” with the man’s level of insight into his offending and its impact in a report. He said the court regarded the conditions imposed on the suspended element of the sentence as important, including that the man engage with any assessments and therapeutic programmes.

He further backdated the sentence to October last, when the man went into custody.