A young Donegal woman who was raped by her father as a child and sexually abused by him over four years has said she wants to get rid of the stigma of abuse after blaming herself for what he did.
Karen Harkin, from Buncrana, gave victim impact evidence at the sentencing of her father, Michael Carter, who was found guilty last month of one count of rape and 25 counts of sexual assault when his daughter was aged between nine and 12 years old.
The court heard Carter, aged 55, does not accept the jury’s verdict.
Ms Harkin’s parents were separated and the court heard the abuse occurred when she was visiting her father’s rented house.
In her victim impact evidence, the 22-year-old said everything was great with her father until she was nine.
She said she did not know why things had changed then. Before that, she would spend time with him “farming, drawing, horse riding, watching TV”. She said he made her laugh and made her happy.
But Sergeant Michael McHugh outlined to the court that when Ms Harkin was nine, her father started making her watch pornography on television, abused her regularly and on one occasion raped her.
Michael Carter will be sentenced tomorrow.
For full story see https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0724/1396190-michael-carter/