Father who sexually abused daughters has jail term more than doubled by Court of Appeal

Fiona Magennis

A 63-year-old man who repeatedly sexually abused and coercively controlled his two young daughters over a ten-year period from when they were aged six and 10, has had his jail term more than doubled after the State appealed the undue leniency of his original four-and-a half-year sentence.

The man, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was indicted on 74 counts of sexual assault against his two daughters and subsequently pleaded guilty to 20 sample counts in November 2022 at Kilkenny Circuit Court.

His younger daughter was aged six when the abuse began, and 13 when it ended.

The perpetrator’s older daughter was 10 when her father began sexually abusing her, while the attacks only stopped when she fled the family home aged 20, the court heard.

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal quashed the man’s original four-and-a-half-year jail term and re-sentenced him to a global term of imprisonment of 12 years.

The Director of Public Prosecutions had applied for a review of the sentence imposed on the basis that it was too lenient.

A sentencing hearing in March 2024 was told that the older daughter outlined to gardaí a pattern of sexual abuse at the hands of her father which occurred on a weekly basis from September 1992.

She told officers her father would get into her bed, place his hand inside her underwear and touch her vagina. The abuse escalated to the man performing oral sex on the girl and continued on a regular basis until she was around 16 years old.

As the abuse progressed, her father would pinch or kick her out of bed if she resisted him, the court heard.

The girl said she felt unable to disclose the sexual abuse due to the control her father exercised over her through physical abuse. She eventually fled the family home when she was aged 20 and did not return.

The offending against the man’s younger daughter began in 1997 when she was aged six and coincided with her getting her own bedroom. She told gardaí her father would enter her bedroom, sometimes wearing nothing but a t-shirt, and would rub his genitals against her buttocks whilst rubbing his hands on her breasts.

He would rub his hands on her vagina and over her underwear and would also grab her hand and place it on his penis, the court heard. This pattern continued until she was 13.

Delivering judgement on behalf of the three-judge court today, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said these offences were “very grave” and both victims were “extremely young” at the time.

He noted the man pleaded guilty to 12 offences in relation to his older daughter and eight offences in relation to his younger child.

Mr Justice McCarthy, sitting with Ms Justice Tara Burns and Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, said this was a “classic case” for the imposition of lengthy custodial sentences which must be made consecutive if the sentence is to be proportionate to the crimes.

He said that when passing sentence, Judge Elva Duffy had imposed a term of three years in respect of one of the victims and 18 months in respect of the other, with both sentences to run consecutively, giving a cumulative sentence of four years and six months.

He said the court found that the judge fell into error, both in the headline sentences nominated and the “disproportionate” discount afforded thereafter. The manner in which the judge addressed the question of totality “compounded” that error, he said.

“We think that the judge failed to impose a proportionate sentence,” he said.

Mr Justice McCarthy said expert reports indicated the respondent accepted “only partial responsibility” for his offending and demonstrated “poor insight” into the effect of the offending on the victims.

He noted the man exercised “coercive control” towards the victims, which was so powerful his eldest daughter was only able to extricate herself from the abuse in her early 20s when she left the family home.

Quashing the original term and proceeding to re-sentence the man, Mr Justice McCarthy said the court would impose sentence on a global basis.

He set a new headline sentence of nine years in respect of each victim which he reduced to seven and a half years after mitigation was taken into consideration. These were further reduced to six years having regard to the principle of totality, with each sentence to run consecutively giving a total period in custody of 12 years.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.