A man who began sexually abusing his stepdaughter when she was four and raped her as a teenager has been jailed for seven years by the Central Criminal Court.
The 45-year-old father of seven began abusing her when they lived in a north Dublin estate in 1980 and progressed to full intercourse before the abuse ended in 1992.
Garda Gearoid Murphy told Ms Melanie Greally, prosecuting, that social workers who had been alerted by a doctor in 1988 to possible abuse could find no grounds for suspecting him, but allegations were made against another family member.
Garda Murphy said the abuse began in their first house but became less frequent when the family moved to the west of the city because he had not the same opportunity to be alone with the girl.
Garda Murphy said the victim was subject to "ritual abuse" again after the family moved back to the north city area.
The abuse happened while her mother was at work and despite the girl's efforts to resist her stepfather. They moved house a fifth time in 1987, and Garda Murphy said, and the abuse increased to buggery and sexual intercourse by the time the family moved house for a sixth time. She was under pressure from her stepfather to start taking a contraceptive pill when she began going out with a boyfriend.
Garda Murphy said that in February 1992 her stepfather raped her. He had sex with her once or twice a week for some time after this.
Later, gardai were called to the house because of a domestic dispute and while they were present the defendant's wife accused him of the rapes. Gardai arrested him on September 16, 1992, and he made a comprehensive admission, giving details his victim had forgotten in her statement. He then left the jurisdiction and was arrested on St Patrick's Day this year when he returned.
Mr Justice Carney said he would have completed his sentence by now if he had not absconded.