An elderly man who sexually assaulted his intellectually disabled adult daughter in 1999 has been given time to organise his medication prior to beginning a jail sentence.
The man (75), who committed the offence after calling to the woman’s home when drunk, suffers from medical issues including cognitive difficulties linked to alcoholism and restricted mobility.
The man, who cannot be named to protect his daughter’s identity, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the then 34-year-old at her Dublin home on October 23rd, 1999. He has one previous conviction from 1989 for forgery.
Defence counsel Keith Spencer submitted it was a single incident induced by alcohol and that his client was extremely remorseful. The man told gardaí on arrest that he had little recollection of the attack. He said if she said he did it, he must have because she “doesn’t tell lies”.
Judge Melanie Greally acceded to an application from the defence to allow the man time to get his medication prepared for going into custody. She indicated she would impose a three-year sentence with the final 18 months suspended. She said she would formally finalise the matter on Friday and the man would go into custody then.
The judge said the offence was “a monstrous breech of trust and a gross violation of the relationship between parent and child”. She noted that the victim was already vulnerable and had been making efforts to overcome her difficulties.
During the sentence hearing earlier this month the court heard the man said he called to his daughter’s flat that night because he was “well oiled” and his girlfriend did not like it when he came home drunk.
Separated parents
The woman told specialist Garda interviewers when she reported the crime years later that she was certain of the date because she remembered she was wearing a pink stripped top and her cat was neutered that day.
The court heard that the woman’s parents were long separated. Her mother and some of her sisters were in court to support her, while one of her sisters was present with her father and acted as a character witness for him.
There were also letters from some of the man’s other daughters handed into court on his behalf.
Det Garda Ann McGowan told Fionnuala O’Sullivan, prosecuting, that the woman told specialist interviewers she let her father into flat and he he put his hands inside her pants and touched her breasts. He later lay on top of her.
She eventually knocked him off the bed and she was worried that he had hit his head. He slept there and left the following day. She described feeling “manky and dirty”.
The now 51-year-old woman read her victim impact statement, saying writing it had made her cry.
She was worried that nobody would believe her and found it difficult to talk to gardaí for that reason. “They will believe me now because they know I am telling the truth,” said the woman.
“It was like my life was taken away from me and it was like it was my fault that this happened to me but it was not my fault. It was my father’s fault.
“I hope now to achieve my dreams. I want to take control back on my life. I hope someday my life will be good and will bring me happiness and peace. When court is over I hope justice will be done.”
Mr Spencer told the woman that her father wished to offer “his heartfelt apology for what happened”.