THE FAMILY of a young girl sexually abused by a paedophile, who also instructed her to send him explicit videos of herself, rejected his apology at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
The court heard that the man would whisper to the girl, “Don’t tell, don’t tell, it is our little secret”, after abusing her at locations in the Mid West region.
The abuse started in 2010, when the girl was aged 10 and the man was in his 40s, and continued until the girl was 15. She made a formal complaint to Gardaí when she was 16.
The man left Ireland after he was arrested in 2017, and was re-arrested in Greece last year on foot of an extradition warrant in respect of 31 child-sex related charges.
The man pleaded guilty to six sample charges, including three counts of sexual assault on the girl, two counts of sexual exploitation of the girl, and one count of possession of child sex abuse images.
He has been included on a sex offenders register for an indefinite period, the court heard.
Prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan, assisted by Garda Mark McGauley, told the man’s sentencing hearing that the man “actively groomed (the girl) for the purpose of his own sexual gratification”.
The court heard the victim saw the man touch his own genitals on multiple occasions, and told her “she was ‘beautiful’ and a ‘special girl’,” Mr O’Sullivan told the court.
The man would also put the victim’s hand on his penis and put his fingers into her vagina.
“He told her, ‘This is our little secret’,” Mr O’Sullivan added.
The court heard the man communicated with the girl late at night via the Facebook and Viber social media platforms.
It was heard that the man sent the girl 10 images of his penis and asked her to send him images of her private parts. The girl sent the man 20 photos and one video.
In an effort to conceal his offending, the man instructed the girl to delete the files she had sent him from her phone, which she did. The court heard the material could not be recovered.
The man, who cannot presently be named, told the girl that when she was 18 they would go to Spain and “go further”.
“She didn’t want that,” Mr O’Sullivan explained.
The girl told Gardaí she had asked the man to stop and that “it felt weird” after he asked her to kiss his penis and he kissed her vagina.
Reading a victim impact statement in court, the girl said her life had been destroyed by the abuse and she continues to suffer from flashbacks, severe depression, anxiety, and complex post traumatic stress disorder.
“He will never truly understand what he did to me. He stole my childhood and he stole my adulthood because I will never cleanse the memories from my mind,” she said.
“The abuse continues to filter into my daily life in unexpected ways and trigger me. A song he used to play might play in a shop and it instantly transports me back, memories of what he did would surge into my mind. I can still hear his voice whisper, ‘Don’t tell, don’t tell, it’s our little secret’.”
The man’s barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, said the defendant, in his 50s, was regarded as being below average risk of reoffending according to a psychological report.
Mr Nicholas read out a letter of apology from the man expressing his remorse and shame.
A member of the girl’s family, who was sitting in the court with her, replied: “We don’t accept your apology.”
Mr O’Sullivan said the victim was entitled to her right to anonymity, and that the “issue of publicity” in respect of the defendant’s identify could be finalised at the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
Sentencing Judge Colin Daly affirmed reporting restrictions and said he would pass sentence on Monday July 28.
