A 76-year-old Donegal man who raped and sexually assaulted a girl some 480 times in a four-year period has been jailed for four years by the Central Criminal Court.
He committed the offences between 1972 and 1976 and in 1989 he sexually assaulted her five-year-old daughter. The man, who pleaded guilty to the offences, cannot be named to protect his victims' identity.
Mr Justice Carney said that but for the man's age and medical frailty the sentence would have been much higher. He suspended the final year of the sentence because the defendant had pleaded guilty at an early stage.
The judge said he had inspected the facilities at the Curragh for the incarceration of elderly prisoners and was satisfied the State had set in place a humane regime. It could provide for the defendant's needs.
The court heard the first victim was 10 years old when the defendant began raping her twice a week. In his own statement admitting his crimes, he indicated he began offending some time earlier.
Mr Justice Carney noted that while there were 34 counts on the indictment, the Supreme Court had ruled that evidence of a higher number of offences such as in this case could be taken into account. The charges to which he pleaded guilty were acceptable as representative.