A former postman who locked his sons out of the house while he raped his only daughter may face a life sentence, a court heard today.
The 47-year-old from the Midlands is already serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping three of his neighbour's young children.
At the Central Criminal Court today, Isobel Kennedy SC said the man had already pleaded guilty to 31 counts of raping, orally raping and sexually abusing his daughter over a 10-year period.
Judge Paul Carney said that given the evidence he had heard, he would have to consider imposing a life sentence. But he adjourned the sentencing hearing to give the man's defence team the time to consider the relevant case law.
The court heard that when the defendant first raped his daughter at the age of seven in 1993, he had sent her four brothers out of the house and locked the door. He raped her in his bedroom and the abuse continued until one of her brothers knocked on the back door.
The court heard the man put on his clothes and told his daughter: "When Mammy comes home, don't say that any of this happened."
Garda Sergeant Gerry Cawley, who investigated the case, said the abuse had taken place in three of the homes the family had lived in between 1993 and 2003. The girl had been too scared to tell her mother who worked at a local community school.
He said the abuse, which included the father forcing his daughter to fondle him and give him oral sex, finally stopped in 2003 when the girl was 17. The court heard that by then the man's wife had given up work which meant he was no longer left alone with his daughter in the house.
Sgt Cawley said the girl had made a complaint to gardai about the abuse in October 2003 and added that her father had been arrested a month later.
One of the girl's brothers said he had seen his father put his hand down his daughter's trousers and her putting her hand in his, and he also saw him closing his belt after coming out of her bedroom.
Judge Carney was provided with a victim impact statement but the victim, now 20, expressed a desire not to give evidence in person. She sat down at the rear of the court during the sentencing hearing with her mother and her brothers.
Her father, who worked with an Post for 20 years before being suspended in 1999, sat slightly sideways in the dock so that he did not have to face his family.
Sgt Cawley said the man had been sentenced to a total of 20 years in jail in 2004 after pleading guilty to rape and sexual assault of three neighbours' children aged between four and 14.
After being suspended from An Post in 1999, the man had gone into business as a market trader. "He would be considered as a quiet man who kept to himself," Sgt Cawley said.
Michael O'Higgins SC for the defendant, said the man had made a written apology to his daughter and had agreed to pay her €10,000 in compensation.
He said it was an unfortunate feature of these type of cases, that individuals who were otherwise law abiding could go on to commit such horrific offences.
The sentencing hearing is due to resume on Friday March 24th.
PA