Man given 4-and-a-half year sentence for rape of cousin

A judge at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork has warned parents and guardians to be more vigilant about access to pornography on family computers.

Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said there is an onus on them to realise that pornography is available readily "at the click of a computer key", and it is not good enough "to turn a blind eye to the potential that they (parents/guardians) could turn up in a court with a son or a daughter who has done the unthinkable".

Ms Justice Ring made her comments during the sentencing hearing of a 25-year-old Co Cork man who pleaded guilty to raping and sexually assaulting his younger cousin from when she was six, for a total of four years between 2014 to 2018.

She sentenced the man to four and a half years in prison, with the final 12 months suspended for two years, on condition that he is under the supervision of the Probation Services on his release, he attends a sex offender treatment programme and that he has no contact direct or indirect with his cousin for a period of five years from the date of his release.

Ms Justice Ring also said young men "must understand that their younger relatives are not sex toys there for experimentation.

"These are living, developing human beings, not a plaything for their personal sexual satisfaction," she said.

The man cannot be named to protect his victim's anonymity.

A previous sitting of the court heard that the incidents happened both at his home and the victim's, where the teenage boy, who was 14 when the abuse began, occasionally babysat his cousin.

His victim estimated the sexual assaults occurred up to three times a week, or around 50 times in total.

The man was voluntarily interviewed by gardaí in 2019 and admitted to the sexual assaults but it wasn't until late 2020 that he admitted orally and anally raping his cousin after she made a disclosure to Tusla.

The court was told that the man started watching pornography when he was 11 and having consumed a "large amount" at a young age, he then developed a "warped view of sexuality" while his cousin "had the misfortune to come into his path at that point".

In her victim impact statement, the now 16-year-old girl said she often wonders if she made the right choice at age 11, when gardaí became involved.

However, she knows "if I had to do it again, I would", though she said she would take better care of herself.

"This process had to happen as I deserve justice, and six-year-old me deserves justice", she told Ms Justice Ring.

At today's sentencing, the court heard that the man has no previous convictions and has not come to recent garda attention. He has a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome and is completing an apprenticeship.

Ms Justice Ring said the court heard that he came from a dysfunctional family and had an early introduction to pornography on the family computer before he got his own mobile phone.

The abuse stopped when he became aware of the effect on the victim.

She remarked that there is an onus on parents and guardians to realise that pornography is available readily at the click of a computer key.

"Parents and guardians have to be more vigilant.

"To turn a blind eye is to potentially turn up in a courtroom with a son and a daughter who have done the unthinkable."

Ms Justice Ring said the young girl made her first disclosure over five years ago.

"She has waited for it to come to a conclusion. She has stayed the course and was vindicated. She has a bright future ahead of her.

"The sexual abuse is part of her life and will always be part of her sexual history, but it will not define her".

She praised the young girl's courage and resilience and said she has all the tools needed to do well in life going forward.