A Donegal pensioner has been sent to prison for the sexual assault of a girl.
The repeated incidents began when the girl was just eight years old and the man was jailed this week by Judge John Aylmer at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
The man, who is aged in his late 70s, was charged with eight counts of sexual assault and cannot be named in order to protect the identity of his victim.
The court was told the man got to know the little girl when her father call into the workplace of the man and innocently bring her along on the journey.
The offences relate to a two-year period and the court was told that each incident involved the accused kissing his victim on the lips while they were in the man’s van.
Ms Patricia McLaughlin BL, for the State, said the girl initially disclosed the incidents to a relative after she panicked when the accused man called to her family home.
Specialist Garda interviewers spoke to the girl in November 2016. The incidents, she told Gardai, related to the man kissing her on the lips, placing his tongue into her mouth. She described details of the incidents to investigators and said it had happened ‘a lot of times’.
The girl, who is now a teenager, told the court that the incident had affected the relationships she has had with many people.
“Scenarios play in my head,” she said. “I find myself with a short temper with people.
“It made me feel trapped and intimidated. I never realised how serious it was until I was older.”
The girl told how she didn’t tell people as she was ashamed and embarrassed. The incidents, she said, took a ‘massive toll’ on her mental health and she finds it hard to trust people.
The man took to the witness box and apologised to his victim.
“I would like to apologise sincerely, there was no sexual intent,” he said. “It was my fault. it shouldn’t have happened, I would like her to forgive me and get on with her life. I am really sorry that it has happened.”
The court heard that the case was adjourned 17 times before a plea was entered.
Judge John Aylmer said the incidents represented an abuse of trust and had a very negative impact on the child and her personal development.
The starting point for sentencing was one of three years in prison on each count.
Judge Aylmer said the man made admissions, ‘albeit limited’, and he had sought to portray them as innocent, rather than sexual.
He had made a late plea of guilty on the instruction of his third senior counsel and has no previous convictions, Judge Aylmer said, adding that the man now appeared remorseful and ashamed of his behavior.
The man sat with his head bowed as Judge Aylmer read his judgement.
Judge Aylmer, taking into account the man’s advanced years and poor health, reduced the sentence to two and a half years imprisonment on each count, with the final 12 months suspended for a period of 12 months on his entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behavior. The sentences are to run concurrently.