A writer has been jailed for eight years by Mr Justice Henry Abbott at the Central Criminal Court for orally raping a teenage Leitrim girl in 1995.
John Mold (53), aka John Muir, of Mullies, Rassaun West, Manorhamilton, was found guilty by a jury after a seven-day trial in November on a total of 40 charges including sexual assault and attempted rape of the 13-year-old girl.
Mold began molesting her after she told him she had been sexually abused as a child by an uncle. He reacted by saying that anyone who would do that was "an evil bastard" and he would "see to it that he will never do it again", but began touching her breasts and genital area.
Shortly after that he told her to say nothing to her parents or he would be jailed. He also said: "You are a beautiful person and I love you." Brendan Grehan SC, for Mold, said his client still protested his innocence.
Sgt Eamonn Sweeney told Eanna Mulloy SC, prosecuting, that Mold had no previous convictions. The victim was virgo intacta when examined in hospital in November 1995. She complained in 2004 about Mold, who denied her allegations to gardaí.
Mr Justice Abbott imposed an eight-year term for the oral rape, seven years for the attempted rape, five years and four years, respectively, for two of the sexual assaults and two years on the 36 remaining counts.
All the sentences are concurrent and he directed that Mold be registered as a certified sex offender.
Mr Justice Abbott said Mold was a serial abuser who violated the trust placed in him by his planned and manipulative behaviour over several months.
The victim asked Mr Justice Abbott, "to try and comprehend the horrendous pain, the absolute shame, degradation and embarrassment" she felt at Mold's "expertly executed campaign of relentless abuse".