Man Repeatedly Sexually Assaulted 4-Year-Old Girl His Wife Was Babysitting, Jailed

A man in Dublin, Ireland, was sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl his wife was babysitting.

The 59-year-old man, whose identity has not been revealed considering the sensitivity of the incident, was convicted in January on two charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl at his home in Dublin between July 2016 and July 2017.

The man’s family had been friendly with the victim’s mother for years. His daughter and wife used to babysit the child.

The victim, during the summer of 2017, told her mother what the man was doing to her. She became one of the youngest complainants ever giving evidence on such a sensitive issue. She underwent cross-examination during a nine-day trial at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Judge Elma Sheahan described the suspect’s act as an “egregious breach of trust” on a vulnerable child. Noting that there were even some occasions when the man molested the child on a couch under the cover of a blanket while others were present in the room, the Judge said the crime involved premeditation.

The child’s mother in a victim impact statement said that she worried about the day her baby girl gained a greater understanding of the trauma the abuse inflicted on her. She said that her daughter now suffers night terrors and bedwetting. They had to move her from the current school to avoid any possible altercations that might arise on the playground.

The forensics experts confirmed that the DNA found on a saliva stained section of the girl’s undergarment matched with the DNA of the accused man.

Judge Sheahan noticing that the man was not ready to accept his mistakes and also failed to understand the pain the child is going through showed no remorse while she gave her verdict.

On Wednesday, the court sentenced him of seven years and 9½ years for the two offenses. But after noting the mitigating factors in the case, the sentence was reduced to 6½ and 8½ years, which is to be run concurrently.