A Wicklow man has been jailed for 10 years for the regular and systematic abuse of his step-daughter over a four-year period.
The now 23-year-old victim, who last week described William Coster as “a horrible monster” who took her childhood, has said she is happy for him to be named in the media.
Coster (44) of Boghall Cottages, Boghall Road, Bray, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to a number of sample counts of sexually assaulting her but had pleaded not guilty to additional charges of sex assault offences as well as 13 charges of rape and 22 charges of anal rape. The victim was aged between 12 and 16 years old at the time.
Coster has been in custody since he admitted those offences early last year.
Last December, the jury acquitted him on all the rape charges but convicted him on every sexual assault count following a three-day trial.
Sean Gillane, prosecuting, said there were now 49 charges of sexual assault, dating from 2002 to 2006, before the court.
The court heard Coster admitted to his wife when confronted that he had kissed and touched her daughter.
He immediately left the family home but sent more than 2,000 text messages to both his victim and her mother, again admitting his guilt and saying he deserved what was coming to him.
Mr Gillane said the victim was brought up to believe the man was her biological father. He first molested her following a family holiday in 2002 and continued his abuse when they returned home.
Mr Justice Paul Carney declared Coster a sex offender and said he was taking into account the inherent gravity of the offence, the breach of trust involved, the age of the victim and the disparity in age between her and Coster, the multiplicity of offences and the effect on the victim.
He took into account Coster’s admissions, remorse and the fact he left the family home when required to do so.
Mr Justice Carney sentenced Coster to 10 years in prison for the charges he was convicted on by the jury and a concurrent eight-year term for those he pleaded guilty to. He imposed 18 months’ post-release supervision.
The court heard the abuse followed the same “pattern of events” during which Coster would summon the teenager up to his bedroom while her mother was out.
He would tell her to get into bed with him before he molested her by touching her breasts and vagina. It continued on regular basis until she was 16 years old.
Mr Gillane said the abuse was also accompanied by “an air of menace and control” as Coster threatened his step-daughter if she told anyone what was happening.
The abuse came to an end when the girl turned 16 and was “big enough to fight him off”, counsel said.
The victim disclosed the abuse to her mother in 2008 and the woman immediately confronted her husband.
Coster made immediate admissions saying: “I am glad she told. I am glad it’s out.” He left the family home and has not returned since.
The woman said in her victim impact statement she went to school “no matter what” every day to get out of the house. She was petrified of going home and used to do extracurricular activities in order to stay on at school as late as she could.
“At the start I thought this was normal. What fathers did. I was very childish. I was afraid he would kill my family and I didn’t want anything to happen them,” she said.
She said she once took more painkillers than she was supposed to because she wanted “to block out the pain and didn’t want to live anymore, to be in pain anymore”.
“I wanted it all to end. This man was a monster,” she continued. “He made my life hell. I had no childhood, he took that away from me.”
“I will never get my childhood back because of him. He was a horrible monster.”
Brendan Grehan, defending, said his client made immediate admissions which resulted in his marriage ending.
“He lost his marriage, his children and access to them, his job, his home and his mental and physical health.”
He said Coster was repeating the apology he already made to his step-daughter and said the man hopes she can get some counselling so she can get on with her life.