A Donegal man, who is a dwarf, has been given four years in jail having pleaded guilty to 26 charges of indecent assault and attempted sexual abuse of children as young as seven.
Donegal Town Circuit Court was told that James O'Donnell (55), Kincasslagh, had a short life expectancy due to his size, as well as heart and kidney problems.
Judge Matthew Deery said that while the abuse - which occurred between 1975 and 1988 - ranked as middle of the scale in terms of seriousness, the impact on the victims was long-lasting.
O'Donnell's size and age as well as his heart and kidney problems were taken into account as he received 24 two-year jail sentences to run concurrently and another two-year jail sentence to run consecutively. He will serve his sentence in Castlerea prison where he can be provided with dialysis.
O'Donnell was known to the families of all the victims and was "a trusted friend" to some. His behaviour came to light in 1998, with one victim telling the court, by way of written statement, of the guilt she felt for not having spoken out sooner.
Some of the four male and two female victims requested that the accused be named and made to serve a custodial sentence. The court heard that O'Donnell did not realise what he was doing was wrong until he heard about similar acts in the news.
He was surprised that some of his victims had spoken out because they were nice to him after the abuse had taken place.