Woman raped by great-uncle “has lived her life in a prison”

A woman who was molested and raped by her great-uncle at locations in Donegal and Dublin has said she now finds herself hyper-vigilant about her own children and feels she has lived her life in a prison.
The 66-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s anonymity, was convicted of five offences after a jury trial at the Central Criminal Court last April.
The court heard yesterday that the victim was aged around ten when the man began kissing her and molesting her.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said that she would relive the rapes and abuse over and over again as a child.
Patrick Gageby SC, defending, handed in a large number of testimonials from family and friends of the defendant. He said that his client has no other convictions and was of otherwise good character.
The man had pleaded not (NOT) guilty to three counts of sexual assault between November 1992 and December 1994 and two counts of rape between June and September 1994 at locations in county Donegal and Dublin.
Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan adjourned the case to May 19 next for sentence.