A YOUTH with a “horrific childhood” has been sentenced to five years for the sexual abuse of his nine-year-old sister.
The court heard the then 16-year-old boy carried out the abuse because he had no sexual education and did not realise what he was doing was wrong. The boy was badly beaten as a child by his alcoholic father and was later thrown out of the house.
A local detective garda told Mr Justice Paul Carney that the girl was still seriously affected by the abuse and is afraid her brother will return to her home.
He has a string of previous convictions for offences such as assault, car theft and criminal damage and began abusing alcohol and drugs at a young age.
Mr Justice Carney said that a dysfunctional background or the abuse of drink and drugs offers “little or no mitigation” and that the offence was made worse because it happened in the victim’s home.
He said that it was a breach of trust and that there was “an element of grooming and stalking” involved. The judge imposed a five-year term with the final 2½ years suspended.
The maximum term for the offence is 14 years.
Mr Justice Carney also ordered the youth to stay away from his sister and undergo post-release supervision.
The now 20 year old, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to sexual assault of his sister in a Cork town between June 1st, 2006, and September 1st, 2008.