A Dublin man who sexually assaulted his friend's two daughters for more than six years has been sentenced to five years' jail by Judge Michael O'Shea at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The 45-year-old man pleaded guilty to 10 sample counts out of 79 of sexual assault and unlawful carnal knowledge on the now 16- and 14-year-old girls between January 1994 and December 2000. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
Both of the girls later told the gardaí that the abuse started before those dates. Det Garda David Kemp told Mr Paul Burns, prosecuting, that both girls were in residential care at the time of the offences.
The man, who went to school and served in the Army for a time with the girls' father, often took the girls out to his north Dublin home. He used to put on pornographic films and made the girls touch him and he fondled their genitalia. On some occasions he had sex with them.
This happened about once a month and lasted from the time the girls were five and eight and continued up to their early teens.
The girls' father had suspicions about his friend and confronted him. The friend confessed to the abuse. Det Garda Kemp said the older girl was back living with her father and didn't want any further help. The younger girl was in foster care.
Mr George Birmingham SC, defending, said his client had himself been abused as a child. He apologised for his actions.