A Dublin man has been jailed for eight years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court for the attempted rape and indecent assault of a young girl over 20 years ago.
Philip Gaynor (56), Green Lane, Leixlip, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted rape of the victim on dates from January 1982 to June 1985, and to indecently assaulting her on dates from June 1980 to June 1985.
Garda Alan Brennan told prosecuting counsel Patrick Gageby (with solicitor Sean Gillane) that the victim was aged from eight to 13 years when abused by Gaynor, who would tell her afterwards she was a good girl and it was their secret.
He also told her that her mother would like her to do what was happening but that if she told anyone he would take her mother away from her father and nobody would believe her. The abuse included masturbation, oral sex and attempted penetration.
Gaynor had no previous convictions.
Mr Justice Carney directed that Gaynor's name be placed on the register of sex offenders and that he undergo five years' post-release supervision. His multiplicity of offences were "the grossest breach of trust" and he took into account the effect on her as well as her age "when these outrages were perpetrated".
He said Gaynor spent seven years "trying to beat the rap" after he was charged and that the State had dropped rape charges when accepting pleas to lesser charges to bring the case to completion.
The victim told Mr Justice Carney the abuse was "a secret I was forced to keep for nearly 20 years".
She had spent the last 26 years of her life "feeling dirty and soiled" while trying to move on and forget "the horrific acts that robbed me of my innocence" and after eight years of therapy now realised she would never be cured.
The power Gaynor had over her was fear, "fear that no one would love me if they knew my dirty little secret", and that there would be "terrible consequences for me and my family if I told".
She feared she would not be believed, that she would be viewed "as soiled goods" and that people would take his side. She also feared her parents and particularly her father "wouldn't view me in the same light as his little girl and that our relationship would change".
"When I resisted, he would threaten me, slap me or bribe me with promises of sweets and money. This still causes me to feel guilt and shame about what happened and that I was unable to stop it," she said.
The abuse had caused her to become withdrawn, with few friends and "to have poor self-esteem, difficulties at school, significant weight change and bed wetting". She had difficulty forming relationships and spent much of her childhood during and after the abuse "as a loner".
"My weight issues have also continued throughout adulthood and I use food as an emotional comforter," she said. While some victims tried to block out their past her experiences still occupied her mind both during the day and in "horrible nightmares" at night.
"I'm constantly exhausted because I don't get a good night's sleep due to the dreams and I spend my waking day keeping my mind occupied by constantly working, never stopping to relax to prevent flashbacks."
She said she prayed for the day she got a good night's sleep "when I'm not transported back to that eight-year-old child being sexually abused by this evil man".