A Sligo man whose wife committed suicide in 1995 has been jailed for two concurrent terms of seven years for raping his sister twice almost 20 years ago.
He was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury last April of having unlawful carnal knowledge of his sister on dates from 1978 to 1981 when she was aged 11 to 14.
Mr Justice Geoghegan told the 40-year-old man: "Even now you are not prepared to admit your guilt for the statutory rape of your sister for which you have been found guilty by a jury."
The defendant maintained his innocence of the statutory rape charges during his trial and said he would not admit to something he had not done.
Earlier this year he pleaded guilty to four charges of indecently assaulting his 22-year-old sister in each of the years from 1983 to 1986.
He also admitted indecently assaulting a next-door neighbour's daughter three times and another of his own sisters, who is in her 30s, on four occasions during the 1970s and 1980s.
He pleaded guilty at Sligo Circuit Court on October 14th last to indecently assaulting his late wife's sister on two occasions between 1976-77 and 1981.
These charges were taken into consideration when Mr Justice Geoghegan imposed seven further sentences of four years and two of two years.
All the sentences are to run concurrently and can be reviewed in the year 2000.
Mr Justice Geoghegan said he was very impressed by the pleas for mercy made at an earlier sitting by one of the victims, and by the testimonials on the defendant's behalf by his mother and by his current partner.
They all indicated he was a changed person for the better.
The court heard he forced sexual intercourse on his now 29-year-old sister, a mother-of-four, on dates from October 8th, 1978 to May 5th, 1981 and he also indecently assaulted her and two other girls over a 10-year period.
During his trial last April, his sister gave evidence of being raped and continually indecently assaulted by him when she was aged 11 to 14. The defendant also gave evidence and denied having intercourse with her. But he admitted indecently assaulting her.