WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTENT: A 19-year-old girl bravely spoke out about her ‘monster’ father’s years of abuse at an Irish court as he was sentenced to spend more than a decade behind bars
Criminal Courts of Justice heard the dad had physically and sexually abused his daughter(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
A “monster” dad who raped and threatened to kill his daughter has been locked up for more than a decade after his now teen child bravely spoke out about the abuse – and his threats to move on to her younger sister.
The unnamed dad, from Offaly, Ireland, was sentenced to 12 years behind bars after he was found guilty of physically and sexually abusing his daughter when she was a small child. The 51-year-old was charged with five counts of rape and oral rape between 2012 and 2020, with the daughter telling Ireland’s Central Criminal Court the horrifying details of abuse he subject her to between the ages of five and 13.
His daughter, who was driven to thoughts of suicide aged just seven by the abuse, delivered harrowing but brave testimony in which she vowed there were some things her father “will never take from me”.
The court heard the abuse began when the girl was small after her mother and father split up, while she was visiting the man on weekends, the Irish Mirror reports. The now 19-year-old said during the first offence at his home, the dad had told her she was “just like her mother”, before orally and vaginally raping her.
She added that she was concurrently physically and sexually abused, and that the man repeatedly slapped her in the face during the rapes. The court heard this type of abuse continued on several other occasions.
The girl later worked up the courage to say she would tell her mother, to which the man replied he would “do it to her sister and kill [the girl] and her family”. After making the threat, he unclothed her and raped her inside the shed at his home, continually telling her she was just like her mother.
The court later heard the repeated rough abuse left the girl – aged just six or seven at the time – screaming in pain. The girl said she distinctly remembered being raped in another shed at the home he shared with his partner.
She said the abuse continued around eight or nine times at the location, a recollection supported by her younger sister, who said she had witnessed her father raping her sister. The girl kept a lid on her horrific abuse, causing extreme mental suffering, until confiding in a friend later in life and eventually telling her mother.
The man wasn’t arrested until 2023. His accuser said in her victim impact statement, which was read to the court, that the abuse had taken up most of her life, and she was driven to thoughts of suicide.
But she added that she had kept it secret to protect her sister and mother, with the man having “made sure I was scared enough never to tell”. She said the threat to move on to her younger sibling still haunted her today. She said: “I didn’t want to live with the pain he was causing me, it always felt wrong.
“I was protecting my sister from being abused, my mam from being hurt. My family was all I cared about.” She added: “When the man who’s supposed to treat you the best in your life turns out to be a monster, how can you trust other men?”
Concluding her statement, the teen bravely insisted her father, no “bigger monster” than whom exists in the world, was not able to take her “kind and loving” nature from her. She said: “I know I am a kind and loving person despite what my father did to me and that’s something he will never take from me.”
“There is no bigger monster in this world and I will have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
Mr Justice Paul McDermott sentenced the man to 12 years in jail on Friday.
He will be placed under the supervision of Ireland’s Probation Service on release for three years, and not allowed to contact his daughters or their mother. He had maintained following his arrest that nothing had happened and denied any wrongdoing. His partner and other family members gave testimony on his behalf.
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.