A man has been found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting his young daughter and forcing her to watch a pornographic film.
The man had claimed that the girl, who was aged between eight and nine when the offences occurred, had been coerced by her mother into making up the allegations.
The jury took less than two hours to return a verdict finding the 50-year-old man guilty of raping the girl between October 1st, 2009, and October 22nd, 2010, in a town in Co Westmeath.
The jury also found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault at the same address and of one count of sexual assault in Co Clare, between October 22nd and October 26th, 2010. He was also found guilty of inviting the child to observe a pornographic film. The defendant had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to all charges.
All verdicts were unanimous.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy thanked the jurors and excused them from jury duty for 10 years. He certified the man as a sex offender and remanded him in custody for sentencing in October.
The abuse took place after the girl’s parents separated. The girl would visit her father every three weeks and stay at his home. He claimed the girl’s mother had a vendetta against him and had put the child up to making up the allegations.