High Court judge praises courage of woman abused by uncle
Sonya McLean
A High Court judge has praised a woman who was sexually abused by her uncle for her victim impact statement, which she said would help other victims “to find their voices".
“Some people will find their voice and come forward, and you will have helped with that process. You should be proud of what you have done to help other victims,” Justice Karen O’Connor told the woman, after an investigating garda read the victim impact statement into the record.
Her uncle, now aged 63, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to a number of charges but was convicted by a jury following a trial last year on three charges of indecent assault.
The offences occurred on dates between February 1988 and December 1988, in the child’s grandmother’s home, where the uncle was living.
The court heard that the then 25-year-old man would regularly get into bed with the then five-year-old child naked and rub his body against her.
Ms Justice O’Connor remanded the man in custody and adjourned sentencing to later this month.
Ms Justice O’Connor spoke directly to the woman and thanked her for her “very eloquent and detailed report”.
“Thank you for the time and thought that has gone into it – it is very important to have an insight,” Ms Justice O’Connor said.
She said the woman, referring to herself as a very sad child and angry teenager, in her victim impact statement, is “sadly” not uncommon in such cases.
The judge said teenagers don’t have the voice or even the understanding of what happened to them as a child, and it is very common for them to become angry because they have no way of expressing the hurt that they are feeling.
She also thanked the woman for her description of her experience of the trial process.
Ms Justice O’Connor told her that she has done something “that will be most helpful to little people who don’t have the voice to say anything that at this point”.
She said the case being reported in the media, which may be read or heard by a child, will help them to understand that they are not alone and that this (sexual abuse) happens to other people as well.
“Some people will find their voice and come forward, and you will have helped with that process. You should be proud of what you have done to help other victims,” Ms Justice O’Connor said.
“I sincerely hope that you take any supports that are available to you – you have done the right thing by proceeding,” the judge said, before adding that the woman had shown dignity throughout the process.
In her victim impact statement, the woman stated that she had buried her story for over 30 years before she ultimately reported it to the gardaí.
She said she ran away from home as a teenager and never understood until she grew older why she had done so.
“I never understood why I did it – I was a good kid that very bad things happened to,” the woman said. She described herself as a “sad child and an angry teenager”.
“I realise now that when I ran away from home, I disconnected myself emotionally from my younger self,” she continued. She said she was angry with the adults in her life who she said should have protected her from the abuse.
Reporting the abuse was 'the hardest thing'
The woman said reporting the abuse was “the hardest thing” she had done in her life and described the trial process as “an out-of-body experience and mental torture”.
She spoke of how her uncle made eye contact with her during the trial, which she said made her “physically sick”.
The woman said that her younger self should be proud of her adult self for sticking up for her. She said she knows that she is a strong person and believes she will continue to heal.
“I always knew right from wrong. I always felt that I was born into the wrong family,” the woman said before she added that she only ever trusted one man in her life – her now husband.
“At least I know that I have done the right thing – maybe now I can stop running and find some inner peace,” the woman said. She thanked the gardaí, who she said have always supported her and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.
John Fitzgerald SC, prosecuting, told Ms Justice O’Connor that the man is the victim’s father’s brother. The victim stayed most weekends in her grandmother’s home, where the accused man was still living at the time.
It was accepted that while the man always denied the charges, he cooperated with the garda investigation and always abided by his bail conditions.
Garrett McCormack SC, defending, confirmed that his client continues to deny the charges and does not accept the verdict of the jury.
He accepted that the offences involved a breach of trust and that there was a significant disparity in age between the man and the child.
He asked the court to accept that the offence itself was in the lower range of such offences which come before the Central Criminal Court.
“This does not diminish what (the victim) has said or take away from it (the abuse),” Mr McCormack said.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
