Kildare man jailed for sexual assault of sister

A MAN who sexually assaulted his 12-year-old sister on multiple occasions in the 1990s when he himself was around 16, was jailed for six and a half years at Naas Circuit Court last week.

Terence Nolan (53), of Colbinstown, Kilcullen was in the circuit court for sentencing after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual assault (Section 10 Criminal Law (Sexual Assault) Act) on his youngest sister across January 1990 at the family home there.

Mr Nolan can be identified after the brave woman waived her right to anonymity.

“He effectively claimed he wasn’t sexually educated, but when a 12-year-old sister puts a lock on her door and you still tried to gain entry, you knew you were wrong, and that speaks volumes to a grown understanding of how a 12-year-old tried to make it stop,” said Judge Elva Duffy in her summation as she refused to suspend any of the sentence.

Detective Garda Wendy Cagney provided a summation of the offending prior to sentencing. Det Cagney outlined how Nolan stayed upstairs in the farmhouse, while his sister had the bedroom beside the bathroom.

“I used to sleep with one eye open, very nervous,” said the detective, quoting the injured party’s evidence.

“I could here him coming down and wished he’d just go to the bathroom, but then the door would open.

“He would get into bed behind me, touch my breasts, touch my nipples.

“I didn’t know what he was doing as I hadn’t been explained the facts of life.

“I would freeze in the bedroom. I had been an assertive child, but I couldn’t tell him to get out”.

Det Cagney added: “Then he would move down to her underwear and put his fingers in her vagina.

“She could hear him behind her, breathing, then he would get erect and pushed into her.

“She was confused, not knowing what was going on, then she would go into an out of body experience, and she couldn’t explain it.

“She could hear the accused grunting. After that he would get out of the bed, never mention it, and go back to being brother and sister, and she thought that this is the way it is.

“She only told her friend (named individual) in national school, but then they went to different secondary schools, but when asked by gardaí to make a statement (in 2024) she was able to recall what she was told.

“Ms Nolan still finds it hard to relax when anyone touches her in a sexual way.”

As a young girl, she went and bought a lock for her bedroom door.

However, Mr Nolan would still try to gain entry.

“Her father got angry because a lock was on the door so he would remove it, and every time the accused would return,” said Det Cagney.

“She estimated a frequency of twice a week, it felt like he wanted more, to put his penis in her from behind,” said prosecuting barrister Jordan Fletcher in his summation.

He explained that the victim finally went to the guards after another brother passed away in 2023 and she sought counselling “and the words came tumbling out of her throat”.

Mr Nolan – a fuel delivery driver - was then arrested in 2024 when he “made admissions”, but had no previous convictions.

Mr Nolan’s defence pointed out that he had been co-operative and shown remorse, and as he was 16 years old at the time “was still a child in the eyes of the law”.

In the woman’s victim impact statement, she said: “From an early age Terence always said I wasn’t wanted. I didn’t deserve to live, I was the scrapings of the pot, because he had been the baby before I was born.

“I was an easy target, and even after I told (her friend) I distanced myself from her.

“I could tell by her reactions this wasn’t normal.

“I couldn’t tell my parents their son was an abuser because in our family you only said anything when spoken to.

“He used my body as a toy for his enjoyment.

“I was scared to sleep, I was scared to stay awake.

“I remember the day I walked over the bridge in Kilcullen in my school uniform to Brennan’s (Hardware) to buy the lock and how it saved my life.

“I was a carefree child living my own life, and my innocence was taken in such a horrible way.

“All my relationships came with flashbacks of guilt and shame.

“I went on with my life putting on a happy face, but he broke me.

“I find lasting relationships hard; I don’t confide and keep everything inside, but always wasn’t good enough.

“He took away my childhood innocence, and robbed me of proper relationships.

“He took my innocence in a most monstrous way, but I want to save others now from abuse in the future.

“I will live with flashbacks for the rest of my life.”

Mr Nolan had initially contested some of the charges but entered a guilty plea after the trial had commenced.

Defence barrister Paul Murray SC argued that Mr Nolan was technically a child at the time, that there wasn’t any sexual intercourse, and he had suffered mental health issues throughout his life.

However, while Judge Duffy accepted these technicalities of mitigation “an element of culpability is still involved here”, and it was his still trying the padlocked door that turned the case for the judge.

The judge sentenced Nolan to six and a half years in prison, and offered no suspension to mitigate.