A woman told gardaí that she “zoned out” and “my body just shut down” when her uncle raped her as a 12-year-old, a court has heard.
The uncle, a 65-year-old from Co Westmeath, was jailed for eight years at the Central Criminal Court after he pleaded guilty to five sample counts of indecent assault, two sample counts of sexual assault and a single charge of rape on dates between July 1986 and December 1992. He has no previous convictions.
The now 40-year-old woman told gardaí that from the time the abuse began, when she was eight years old, it would happen once or twice a week.
“Sometimes he would just rub my face or hair but he never left me alone.”
She outlined an incident of rape to gardaí which she estimated happened when she was 12. Her uncle was on top of her and she could get an “overpowering smell of body odour”.
“My body just shut down and I wanted it be over. I would pick something to look at and just zone out,” the woman told gardaí.
She described feeling claustrophobic because of the weight of him and said she was sore and bleeding afterward.
‘Survival instinct’
The woman described still using the same technique of zoning out when she finds a situation difficult and said it was “a survival instinct”.
In a victim impact report, the woman said her uncle preyed upon her, and that her innocence and childhood were taken away from her.
She said that before the abuse she was a happy and light hearted girl, who loved to play with her siblings. Afterwards, she said she felt “very much alone and in a dark place”, hated looking in the mirror and in later years started drinking to numb the pain. She described having trust issues and said she found it hard to deal with relationships.
The woman said she suffered severe depression and almost attempted suicide.
“I thought this world would be a better place without me,” she stated.
She said she still lives close to her uncle and would see him every day while she is doing her usual errands. She described an enormous feeling of fright when she saw the man and felt in fear for herself and her children.
The woman concluded her statement by saying that since making the complaint she has attended counselling.
“I refuse to be his victim anymore and I am looking forward now to the rest of my life.”
‘Blighted’
Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the offences “blighted and dominated her childhood” during the time that he was a visitor to her home and babysat her.
He said the aggravating factors were the victim’s age at the time, “she had to endure this behaviour between the ages of eight and 14”. He described her victim impact report as “clear and eloquent”.
Mr Justice McDermott said the man had effectively groomed his niece and abused the position of trust he had been placed in.
He sentenced the man to eight years in prison and ordered that he undergo three years post release supervision during which time he is not to have any contact, either directly or indirectly, with the woman or her family.
The man must also engage with the Probation Service upon his release and undertake any courses it recommends.