A Kerry man has been jailed for seven years for a string of sexual crimes against younger female relatives.
The man, who is in his 30s, cannot be identified to protect the identity of his victims.
Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to seven charges including sexual assault of a minor and defilement of a minor.
Some of these charges are sample counts representing a larger number of offences, all of which took place between 2001 and 2020.
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The man pleaded guilty to three sample counts of sexually assaulting his younger sister over a period of seven years.
The court heard the first of these occurred when he was 12 years old and she was eleven, and her evidence was that this abuse went on to be a weekly occurrence.
The man also admitted to one count of sexually assaulting his younger cousin when he was 14 or 15 years old, and she was 12 or 13.
He pleaded guilty to three sample counts of defilement of a child, who is his niece, by initiating and then engaging in a sexual relationship with her over a two-year period, when he was in his 30s and she was 15 and 16 years old.
In a victim impact statement, his sister said she’s had a fear all her life that he’s still in the room next to her waiting to come in the door.
His cousin spoke directly to him through her victim impact statement, telling him he needs to be stopped.
In her victim impact statement, his niece said he took advantage of an easily-led teenager, and she subsequently lived in fear of him, that she couldn’t dress a certain way or wear make up without him getting angry at her.
She said she had to live every day under his rules.
The man had 88 previous convictions, that included threats to kill, serious assaults, and violence against women.
Senior Counsel for the defence, Blaise O’Carroll spoke of a chaotic background, and a man who lacked a father figure to show him how to conduct himself.
Judge Sinead Behan said he abused a position of trust, in places these girls were entitled to feel secure.
She handed down a seven-year sentence for the defilement of his niece, and concurrent sentences of five and a half years for the abuse of his sister, and two and a half years for the abuse of his cousin.
Anyone effected by these issues can contact One in Four at 01 662 4070 or Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre on their freephone number 1800 6 33 333.
