A 73-year-old Waterford man has been jailed for seven years for raping a 12-year-old girl who gave had a child later. Philip Francis O'Brien, married, of Barrack Street, Tallow, a retired driving instructor, was convicted in March by a Central Criminal Court jury of raping his now 16-year-old neighbour in or about July 1997.
Forensic scientist Mr Michael Burrington said DNA samples showed a 350-1 probability that the man was the baby's father.
Mr Justice Smyth said for a 13-year-old girl to have a baby was appalling, "but to be raped and made pregnant by a man more than five times her age is quite disgusting". The crime called for a severe sentence and a seven-year term was tantamount to a life sentence for a person of O'Brien's age. He noted that he protested his innocence. The victim's family agreed that O'Brien should be named by the media.
Sgt Albert Gill told Mr Michael Durack SC, prosecuting, that the victim, who had previously been happy and outgoing, was now a troubled youngster. She felt stigmatised and isolated and had few friends. She didn't socialise much any more and believed people pointed her out on the street and talked about her.
The fact that O'Brien lived nearby had put a great strain on her and her wider family.
The jury was told the girl used to visit O'Brien's house regularly and looked on him as a grandfather figure. She said one day he invited her to watch television in his bedroom, pushed her on to a bed, slapped her around the face a few times and then raped her. He threatened he would do the same thing to her mother if she told anyone.
She discovered she was pregnant in September 1997 and initially alleged she was raped by a boy while on holidays in London. She later said O'Brien raped her and that she made the false allegation because of the threat to her mother. O'Brien told the jury he was sterile as a result of contracting mumps in the 1950s. He said this had been confirmed by doctors in Wales and he never had a family with his now deceased first wife nor with the second woman he married.
Mr Brendan Grogan SC, defending, said he was confined to what he could plead due to O'Brien's continued denial, which was his entitlement. He said O'Brien had worked all his life and had never before come to Garda notice.