A six-year prison sentence was imposed on an elderly Co Clare man yesterday after he pleaded guilty to five counts of indecently assaulting and four counts of sexually assaulting his grand-daughter over a four-year period. Imposing sentence on the 76-year-old retired farmer at Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Sean O'Leary suspended four years of the six years for five years, taking into account the man's age.
Judge O'Leary also ordered that the man must not reside within three miles of his grand-daughter for five years on his release. He said the offences were not only crimes against the victim but crimes against society.
The court heard that the abuse started after the man moved into his son's family home in 1988. The investigating garda told the court that the man first indecently assaulted his granddaughter, then aged six, in his bedroom in the house in 1989. The assaults continued a number of times a week and sometimes every night until 1993.
Leave to appeal the sentence was refused.