Courts / Ireland / Report

Three years for man who was 16 when he repeatedly raped sister

Summary

A 43-year-old man has been jailed for three years for the repeated rape of his sister in the early 1990s. The man, who cannot be named to protect his sister's anonymity, was around 16 at the time of the offences and was in charge of babysitting his younger sister, then aged 10 or 11. At a trial at the Central Criminal Court in March, the man denied four charges of anal rape, one of oral rape, and one of sexual assault at the family home on dates between May 1991 and June 1993. He was convicted on all charges by unanimous verdict of the jury. Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, stated that the man accepted the jury's verdict but made no admissions to the crimes. The court heard that the victim secretly recorded a family meeting at which she confronted her brother about raping her when they were children. Excerpts of her phone recording were played to the jury during the trial, in which he expressed apologies to his sister but did not make specific admissions. Ms Justice Tara Burns noted that the accused man had 'accepted wrongdoing of some sexual nature' but did not follow through with an admission of guilt. She set a headline sentence of nine years for the anal rapes and eight years for the oral rape. Taking into account the fact that the accused was aged 16 at the time of the offences, she reduced the headline sentences to five years for the anal rapes, four years for the oral rape, and two years for the sexual assault charge. Ms Justice Burns then suspended the final two years of each sentence, outlining further mitigating factors including the man's strong work history, his significant involvement with the GAA, and his 'impressive' character references. The judge remarked that it was 'heart-breaking' to watch the mother of both the accused and the complainant 'literally crumble' as she gave her evidence. The victim described how she had tried to resolve the issue within the family for nearly three years before going to gardaí. She said all she had wanted was an acknowledgment from her brother of his wrongdoing, but that he had chosen to put his family on the witness stand in court. The woman thanked her husband, family, gardaí, the prosecution team, and judge and jury for believing in her and helping her find the strength to get through the trial. She paid special tribute to the Victim Support at Court team for providing a 'haven' where 'nobody judges you.'

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Three years for man who was 16 when he repeatedly raped sister. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Convicted

When:

• May 1991 Incident
• June 1993 Incident
• 2019-05-07 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Sexual Offences Stage Sentence Violent Crime

Read the original CNI report