A father who subjected his young son to horrifying sexual abuse was given a 10-year prison sentence today.
The middle-aged man from the midlands had pleaded guilty to 12 charges of the defilement of a child under 15 and the Director of Public Prosecutions entered a nolle prosequi in respect of several other counts.
The offences took place in 2009 and 2010, when the boy was aged nine to 11, the Circuit Criminal Court sitting in Tullamore heard.
Judge Tony Hunt voiced his concern that, while the accused had pleaded guilty and was making some progress in dealing with his problems, he did not fully appreciate what he had done to his child. His actions had gone against all the natural duties and instincts of a parent to nurture a child. It was a most fundamental breach of trust.
While there had been no victim impact statement, it was “highly likely” that long-term damage had been done to the victim, the judge said.
The court heard that the abuse, which took place on a weekly basis, had come to light when his son disclosed to a relative what had been happening to him. When the accused man was later interviewed by gardaí, he made limited admissions.
The man had been assessed on the low range of an intelligence scale, but that did not prevent him from appreciating the enormity of what had happened, Judge Hunt said.
'A danger'
"I'm satisfied he doesn't have a conventional view of sexuality and is a danger unless managed," he stressed.
The headline sentence for such offences was 14 years, the judge noted, and the case seemed to him to be well above the medium point in the scale. But there were also a number of mitigating factors, including the guilty plea, which he had to take into account.
He imposed concurrent sentences of 10 years on each count, but suspended three years on condition that the accused keep the peace, comply with post-release supervision requirements and have no contact with his victim.