Man, 76, who raped teen girl in 1980s jailed for eight years
A MAN who raped and sexually assaulted a teenage girl who was babysitting children of a woman he was having an affair with has been jailed for eight years.
The court heard that in one incident, the man called to the girl’s home on the pretext of taking her for an interview for a job at nearby newsagents.
He instead took her for a drive to the Wicklow mountains where he raped her. The court heard that on the drive
‘My suffering can end’
the girl was screaming as she was afraid of what the man might do and was concerned he might kill her.
The man told her to shut up and that she would be alright. He gave her a bar of chocolate and a lollipop after raping her.
The girl told the court she scrubbed herself raw with bleach afterwards and feared she might be pregnant.
In an earlier incident of rape, the man took her back to the home of the woman she was babysitting for on the pretext of getting her to clean the house so that the rental deposit would be returned.
The woman later told gardaí he had repeatedly promised her he would not touch her, but she told gardaí that after she got into the house that day, ‘everything went blank’ until she came to lying face down on the floor with the man raping her from behind.
The now 51-year-old woman also told gardaí that there had been occasions when the man had forced her to perform oral sex on him.
The now 76-year-old man had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to charges of rape and indecent assault of the then 15-year-old girl in Dublin between November 1988 and August 1989.
A jury convicted him on two charges of rape and three of indecent assault following an eight-day trial last month.
The man was around 41 years old at the time.
He was married with children and had been having an affair.
In a victim impact statement, the woman described how she has had to pull herself out of the ‘darkest places time and time again’.
She said it was only through putting herself through college to qualify as a counsellor herself that she finally found her voice. She added: ‘At 51 years old my suffering can end. I have been heard and your suffering can begin.’
Judge Patrick McGrath described the complainant as ‘a brave woman who has not allowed these crimes to defeat her, but has determinedly brought up her children and put herself through college’.
He also highly commended her for ‘her bravery and determination in reporting the crime and giving evidence’.
Judge McGrath imposed a sentence of 11 years. He suspended the final three years of that term, taking into account mitigating factors including the man’s current age.
The judge noted many testimonials handed in on the man’s behalf, including one from his wife, which described him as ‘a doting grandfather’.
His son and daughter were in court to support him.