A JUDGE told a former member of the Irish Defence Forces he faces “up to ten years in jail” after he was convicted of sexually assaulting two girls in Limerick in the 1980s.
The defendant, 60s, who cannot yet be named due to a live court order imposed to protect the victims identities, was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault in respect of the two female complainants, on dates between 1984 and 1989.
A jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court said it could not reach a verdict in relation to a fifth count against the man, in which at least 10 of the 12 jury members were agreed.
Prosecuting barrister, John O’Sullivan, BL, told the court, that “it would be anticipated the accused would be identified” at his sentencing hearing, which was scheduled for April 8.
Victim impact statements are to be canvassed from the two victims in the case and these will be read and taken into consideration by Judge Colin Daly when he decides his sentence.
“Mr (X) is now facing a sentence of up to ten years in prison,” the judge said.
The man, who denied all of the charges, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out and he was remanded on continuing bail for sentence.
One of the victims told the man’s trial, that when she was around seven years of age, the man told her they were “boyfriend and girlfriend” and that she was not to tell anyone as it was a “secret”.
The woman said the man showed her how to kiss using tongues, and that “he used my hand to rub his penis”.
The woman said she felt “upset and hurt” after her mother showed her photographs of the man’s wedding a short time after.
“How could he say one thing to me, and then get married? I was only a child, I knew something was wrong, I was surprised, I didn’t understand,” the woman said.
The woman said that, on another occasion, the man put his fingers inside her underwear and rubbed her genitals while she was sitting on his lap, however the jury was not able to reach a verdict in respect of this allegation.
The woman said that on a third occasion the man rubbed his penis against her vagina, when she was “between the ages of four and eight”.
She continued: “I was very small…I bolted for the door, I didn’t know what was happening.”
“After one of the incidents I was sore down below (genital area). I was prescribed an ointment by our (family doctor),” she said.
“No one ever asked me what had happened, and my mother got this yellow ointment and she had to put it on me for a period of time.”
The court heard the woman messaged the other victim on social media in recent years and wrote to the other woman’s mother informing them she had made a complaint to Gardaí about the man.
Mr O’Sullivan, prosecuting, told the jury of six men and six women: “This is a case of credibility – Are these two ladies coming to court to fabricate something that happened years ago? That’s for you to decide.”
“There is no doubt that these charges were brought after a considerable amount of time and you will have to have regard to that,” said Mr O’Sullivan.
The court heard that, during the 1980s, the second victim told her mother about the man’s indecent assaults on her, but that, despite Gardaí investigating the woman’s complaint, the then Director of Public Prosecutions directed there was insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution against the man.
