GRANDFATHER JAILED FOR ABUSING CHILDREN

A KERRY grandfather described as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” has been jailed for 13 years for the sexual abuse of his daughter and two of his granddaughters.

At the Central Criminal Court the father of the youngest victim, who was the first child to report the abuse, urged parents to be vigilant if they had the “slightest inkling that a child was a little off.”

He thanked the child’s teacher who had just finished a “Stay Safe” program with the class when the child revealed her own abuse.

Her grandfather, who raped and sexually assaulted the child while babysitting her, had told the child it was “their little secret” the court heard.

A local garda told Paul Greene SC, prosecuting, that the disclosure of the abuse was first made by the younger grandchild to her teacher and reporting procedures were set in motion.

The two grandchildren were then spoken to by specialist interviewers and gave details of the abuse.

Gardaí also took a statement from the accused’s adult daughter. She said that her father first abused her when she was ten with the abuse continuing for four years until she confronted him.

The accused admitted abusing all three victims.

He has no previous convictions and is now wholly estranged from his family.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault of the younger granddaughter, who first reported his abuse, on dates between 2011 and 2014.

He also pleaded guilty to sexual assault of an older granddaughter on dates between 2011 and 2012 and sexual assault of his own daughter during her childhood on dates between 1995 and 1999.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy noted the man had repeated his sexual wrongdoing in two generations of the family. He imposed consecutive sentences totalling 13 years.

The man’s daughter said she had believed she was the only victim. Her abuse came to an end when she shouted at her father to leave her alone.

She described the guilt she felt years later when she discovered he had abused her nieces as well.

“How could you have done this to us?” she asked her father during her victim impact statement.

The younger granddaughter was aged between six and nine at the time of the abuse, while her cousin was aged between nine and ten years old. The man abused the girls at various locations including the family home and while babysitting.

Defence counsel, Anthony Sammon SC, said the accused man was “terribly upset” at what he had done and at destroying what was once a close family. He said he was struggling to come to terms with the make-up of his own nature that brought this about.

He handed in a psychologist’s report and a bundle of testimonials from “people who spoke well of him.” He asked the court to take into account the man’s remorse, admissions and co-operation with gardaí.

The father of the youngest victim gave a victim impact statement on her behalf. He said for as long as his daughter could remember she had been subject to sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather. “What happened to her should never happen to any child on this earth,” her father said.