A DONEGAL man has been remanded in custody pending sentence after he admitted to having sex with his sister when she was between 12 and 14 years old and to sexually assaulting her in their family home over 16 years ago.
The 35-year-old accused, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to two charges of incest and 20 charges of sexual assault on her when she was under 15 years of age on dates between June 7th, 1991 and June 6th, 1996.
Mr Justice Paul Carney adjourned sentencing until today. The accused has already been registered as a sex offender.
John Aylmer SC, prosecuting, said that the charges were “representative” and the victim says she was sexually abused by her brother on a weekly basis from the time she was 10 to 14 years old.
He said there were four incidents of incest where the accused had sex with his sister from the time she was 12 to 14 years old.
Garda Elaine Kelly agreed with Mr Aylmer that the now 28-year-old woman said, in a victim impact statement, she could now look forward to the rest of her life because he had been brought to justice.
The woman said she was afraid to chat to boys at school, she did not do well in her State exams and later drank alcohol to block out the abuse. She said she felt she had lost her childhood and suffered nightmares and flashbacks.
Garda Kelly told Mr Aylmer that the woman first reported the abuse to gardaí in April 2007.
The woman told gardaí she had reported the abuse to her parents when she was a young teenager and that they called her brother to talk to him in her absence .
She did not know what had been said to the accused but she told gardaí that the abuse continued for some time afterwards.
Garda Kelly said the accused was arrested on August 20th, 2007. He was co-operative during interview and admitted to sexually assaulting the girl.
Garda Kelly agreed with Patrick Gageby SC, defending, that his client and his sister came from a hard-working family.
Mr Gageby said his client expressed remorse and shame for what had happened and was aware of the deep psychological effects his crime had on his sister.