Child molester given jail term for abusing nephew

A man who abused his young nephew for six years was given a nine-month prison sentence after pleading guilty at Galway District Court.

The 58-year-old man – who cannot be identified in order to protect the identity of the injured party – pleaded guilty to three sample counts of sexual assault during a six-year period from 1992 when the boy was 13.

Sergeant Grace Hennessy outlined a number of incidents to the court — all of a similar nature involving fondling of genitals — which had taken place when the boy was seven, nine and 11, when his uncle was minding him. He recalled five specific incidents that had taken place in the family home or in the defendant’s car.

As the boy got older, he started avoiding him and he hadn’t seen his uncle in years.

The court heard that the sexual abuse might never have been reported, but that it came up while the man, now in his 30s, was in marriage counselling.

The injured party wasn’t in court and wanted to put all this behind him, said Sgt Hennessy and in a short Victim Impact Report, said that he suffered low self-esteem and anxiety all his life. He said the court hearing was long overdue for his uncle but he now wanted to move on with his life.

The court heard that the injured party was very upset every time he spoke about the abuse. He didn’t want to come to court and wanted to put it all behind him. He had thought it had been his fault.

The defending solicitor told Judge Mary Fahy that his client realised it was a gross breach of trust and apologised to his nephew and to his wider family.

Judge Fahy said she didn’t know if that apology was being accepted by the injured party, who had been abused for six years until he turned 13.

She said it was at the lower level of sexual abuse, but that it was still a gross breach of trust to a boy who had probably looked up to his uncle.

The Judge said she was imposing a custodial sentence because of the young age of the child involved and that this child, now a grown man, had to avail of counselling and that it had impacted on his life.

“Obviously the continuation of this for six years was a huge span for a child and from such a close relative,” she said.

The court heard from his legal representative that the man, who was unmarried, was not in good health.

She said she was taking the man’s age and his health into account and the fact he had fully co-operated with the Gardaí. She gave him a further three-month sentence for the other two charges to run concurrently with the nine-month sentence.

Recognisances were fixed for an appeal at his own surety of €600 as well as an independent surety of €600 on condition that he provided the State with a residential address and a mobile number and have no contact with the injured party.