A man who raped and sexually assaulted a child more than 20 years ago has been handed a 10 year prison sentence, with three years suspended, at the Central Criminal Court today.
The 59-year-old Laois man, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who denied the charges, was found guilty by a jury on four counts of raping and four counts of indecently assaulting the victim on dates from April 1979 to June 1986 at various places in Co Mayo.
The jury's verdicts were returned on day-five of the hearing on July 6th, and followed almost five hours' deliberation.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton, who directed that the man be registered as a sex offender, said the victim's "eloquent impact statement" noted his offending had taken her young life from her.
"These offences are particularly bad but I will suspend the final three years on condition that he attend three years post release supervision," Mr Justice Charleton said.
The man had originally faced a total of 40 charges but Mr Justice Charleton withdrew five of them following legal discussion at the end of the evidence and the jury acquitted him on the remaining 14 charges of rape and 13 of sexual assault.
In court, gardaí said the man totally rejected the victim's allegations when interviewed after his arrest in 2000.
The judge today refused leave to appeal conviction and sentence.