A Judge has sought legal information in the case of an Inishowen man who has pleaded guilty to a historic case of sex abuse.
The man, who is in his 50s, appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court charged with two counts of indecent assault following the incidents in May, 1982.
The man cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim whom he is related to.
A Garda gave details of the incidents which happened on a farm.
The court was told that the incidents happened on less than four occasions when the victim was 12 and the accused was aged 16.
The incidents include touching another person’s penis, oral sex and simulating sex.
The court was told that the man had moved away from Donegal and had started counselling to cope with the incidents of abuse in 2015.
He first made a complaint to Gardai about the matter in June, 2016.
During his statement to Gardai the victim gave details of the abuse which took place in a farm shed and revealed on one occasion he heard his father’s tractor coming as he was being abused.
The court was told the victim was no in court because he could not “bring himself” to be in court despite also being offered the option to appear by videolink.
The accused man appeared in court with his wife and brother and sister.
The accused man has no previous convictions.
A victim impact statement on behalf of the victim spoke about him having feelings of anger and shame all his life.
In his 20s and 30s he also had feelings if disgust and found it difficult to allow anyone to get close to him in a romantic way.
He added that in relationships he would take the blame for things that went wrong.
In his 40s he started to have flashbacks after the abuse and he started obsessing about his appearance and would run for miles just to make himself exhausted.
He then had suicidal feelings saying he was ready to “end it all” and he finally had a mental breakdown.
A friend then spoke to him and told him how much his children needed him and he agreed to go to counselling.
Barrister for the accused, Mr Declan McHugh, BL, said that during discussions with his client.
He said that to say his client is ashamed and remorseful would be an understatement and that he wants to apologise to his victim.
Mr McHugh quoted the accused as saying “I thought it was just young boys growing up and experimenting and I didn’t think we were doing anything wrong.”
He aded that he was sorry if he put pressure on his victim’s life adding “I’m ashamed of myself now.”
Mr McHugh added that the accused was “not a man of many words” and that he had completely withdrawn socially since the allegations were made.
Judge John Aylmer then raised the issue of the historic nature of the crimes which happened more than 40 years ago and committed by a person who was a child at the time.
He asked legal practitioners if they were aware of any information from the Court of Appeal which dealt with historic sex abuse cases where the accused was a child at the time of the commission of the offence.
Judge Aylmer adjourned the matter until next Tuesday, June 18.
Inishowen man charged with historic sex abuse of young relative on farm was last modified: June 12th, 2024 by