Kildare businessman jailed for sexually abusing his young daughter 

A Kildare father who sexually assaulted his young daughter in her bedroom several nights a week over a period of over five years has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

The separated father of three was convicted of 22 counts of sexual assault on his daughter following a four-day trial at Naas Circuit Criminal Court last March.

The 55-year-old businessman,, who cannot be named to protect his victim’s identity, had denied all charges and continues to reject the jury’s verdicts.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Judge Martina Baxter noted that the charges were sample counts spread out on a quarterly basis over the duration of the offending which took place in the victim’s bedroom in her family home.

The judge claimed there had been “a monumental breach of trust” by the accused.

“The role of a Dad is to protect his daughter from harm,” Judge Baxter remarked. “She was supposed to be in a safe place but there was a violation of her space and her bodily integrity.” She claimed his actions on a young vulnerable child, who was completely blameless, had a profound and life-changing impact on her.

The court heard the offences first began in July 2015 and continued until September 2020 over a period when the girl was aged approximately 6-11 years old.

Judge Baxter observed that many of the charges occurred at a time when the defendant’s marriage to the victim’s mother was breaking down when he would sleep on a lower bunk bed with his daughter in her bedroom.

The court heard the accused had also taken legal proceedings to try and prevent his wife and their children moving to another part of the country following the ending of their marriage.

Evidence was previously heard that the girl, who is now aged 15, first reported what had happened in May 2022 which resulted in her father being arrested 12 months later.

The accused denied all the allegations against him when questioned by gardaí and maintained his innocence.

While he did not believe his daughter was maliciously lying about being sexually assaulted by him, he told gardaí he felt she had been affected by the separation of her parents.

During interviews with specialists, the girl outlined how her father would sexually assault her two to three times every week.

She described how he would sleep naked next to her and form a C-position around her so that she could feel the lower part of his body like it was “jumping” into her.

The court heard that he would rub his penis against her private parts for up to 15 minutes although there was no penetration.

The girl said she never said anything back to her father but recalled how it made her feel uncomfortable.

She particularly remembered one night when he placed his hand over her mouth and told her to shush when her brother was heard getting up to go to the bathroom.

Judge Baxter observed that the girl, who completed her Junior Certificate this year, has provided a thoughtful and impactful victim impact statement.

The judge said she had clearly been traumatised by what was done to her by someone she adored and trusted but was making an encouraging recovery after the ending of her parents’ marriage.

“You are a brave, courageous and insightful young woman,” the judge told the girl who was accompanied to court by her mother and siblings.

Sentencing the accused to five and a half years imprisonment, Judge Baxter also ordered that he be subject to two years supervision on his release from prison and noted he was now a registered sex offender.

The judge said she could provide no mitigation as the defendant had demonstrated no element of insight or prospect of rehabilitation.

Addressing the accused, she said there was no doubt that he had lost everything in what had previously been an unblemished career.

The court heard he had no previous criminal convictions.

The man shook hands with a number of people in the courtroom before being led away by prison officers.