"If I could get the death penalty, I would gladly take it," a Wexford man told Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court before he was jailed for eight years for raping a young girl.
Patrick Kavanagh (34), Carrigban, Bunclody, pleaded guilty to eight sample charges of rape and anal rape of the victim on dates from 2002 to 2006. There were 53 counts against him in relation to the same victim whom he first raped when she was aged eight.
Det Garda Maria McWey told Mary Rose Geraghty, prosecuting, that Kavanagh surrendered himself to Bunclody Garda station and said he wanted to make a statement.
Det Garda McWey agreed with Patrick McCarthy SC, defending, that Kavanagh repeatedly replied "I'm guilty" during interviews and that the victim's claims were true. He told gardaí he was ashamed of what he had done.
Kavanagh said from the witness box that he hoped whatever sentence he got would bring closure to the victim and her family. He apologised for his crimes and the effect they had had on them.
Mr Justice Carney directed that Kavanagh be registered as a sex offender and undergo five years of post-release supervision.
He was obliged by law to place the offence on a point on the scale of penalty available to the court which was up to life imprisonment. He placed this case as meriting 11 years in prison, taking into account the heinousness of the crime, the duration and frequency of abuse and the physical and mental effects on the victim.
He took into account Kavanagh's early guilty plea, his genuine remorse and good work record in imposing concurrent terms of eight years on each offence.