Dad with 53 convictions jailed for sexually exploiting girl he used to babysit
In her victim impact statement the young woman said her life spiralled after the abuse.
A 49-year-old Laois father has been jailed for two years for defilement and sexual exploitation of a child he used to babysit.
The man, who is Irish heritage but was born in the UK before moving to Ireland as a child, pleaded guilty to defilement of the 15-year-old girl and obtaining a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Co Laois, on dates in 2021.
The man, who cannot be identified to protect the anonymity of his victim, was sentenced to two years after appearing in Portlaoise Circuit Court this week.
The court heard he had 53 previous convictions for offences including indecency, animal welfare offences, public order offences, indecent communication, breaches of barring orders and road traffic offences.
He sat with his head bowed in court as the victim and her family members looked on during his sentencing hearing on Thursday.
In her victim impact statement the young woman said her life spiralled after the abuse.
'I was having thoughts that I wanted to take my own life. I couldn't concentrate in school and was thinking about suicide.'
She said she started skipping school and running away from home in the aftermath.
'My family did everything they could to get me the help I needed.' She said she got counselling but some days would battle to get to sleep at night.
I kept getting nightmares thinking about it. I still think about it. I will never forget what happened.'
Detective Garda Ray Dermody told Judge told Judge Keenan Johnson that the girls father reported her missing on November 11 2021 and spoke to gardai again the following day to say he believed she was at the man's house where they later found her. Days later she revealed to gardai that the man had sex with her in the house while she was there and had also digitally penetrated her on another occasion earlier that month.
The man was a brother of an ex-girlfriend of the victim's father and the court heard the man previously babysat her and had been chatting to her online and by phone with the conversations turning sexual and very intense.
He called her at 6.30am on November 2, 2021 but she missed the call and called him back.
The court heard he told her to come out to his house and she initially said she didn't know if she would because she had to go to school. However, he convinced her to ditch school to go to his home.
When she arrived he stripped down to his underwear and told her to take her clothes off. He kissed her and took off her underwear before digitally penetrating her.
The court heard the girl felt confused after what happened and ended things by saying she needed to go to bathroom.
She stayed in his house overnight before going home.
On November 11 the man messaged the girl saying he missed her very much and she went over to his home.
They went to the bedroom and got undressed before he kissed her and had sex with her.
The girl made a complaint to gardai in the days after she was found at the man's home.
He initially denied any sexual activity had taken place and said he saw himself as a 'sort of mentor' figure , an 'agony aunt' and a comforting shoulder but 'no more' than that.
However, he later came clean and admitted everything.
The court heard the man was previously married and had a number of children.
He moved to Ireland when he was a child to stay with family here and in his adult life had sporadic work as a painter and gas fitter.
In mitigation his defence counsel said the girl wasn't abducted by the man but accepted that society cannot condone his behaviour.
Judge Johnson said the man actively initiated sexual contact with a girl who was 'clearly very vulnerable' and described the two offences as 'abhorrent.'
He commended the young woman for coming forward and sentenced the man to two years imprisonment.
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