Farmer who thought abuse was 'just young boys growing up' is jailed
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
A Co Donegal farmer who abused a young relative in a farm shed more than 40 years ago saying he thought it was "just young boys growing up" has been jailed for one and a half years.
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 accused man, who was 16 at the time, cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim whom he is related to and who was 12 at the time.
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When interviewed by Gardai the accused claimed "I thought it was just young boys growing up and experimenting and I didn't think we were doing anything wrong."
A Garda gave details of the incidents which happened on a farm.
The court was told that the incidents happened on less than four of five occasions.
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 not in court because he could not "bring himself" to be in court despite also being offered the option to appear by video link.
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 of 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 after 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 added 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.
He then adjourned the matter to consider legal information and legislation on historic abuse case sentences.
Passing sentence Judge Aylmer revisited the evidence given in court and noted that in this jurisdiction sentences are reduced by between one third and a half when the offences are committed by people between the ages of 15 and 17.
However, he said an aggravating factor in the case was that there was a significant age gap between the accused and the victim and occurred when the accused was 16 and the victim was 12.
He placed the offences in the mid-range of such offences and merited a sentence of five years before mitigation was considered.
Judge Aylmer noted the offences happened at a time when the accused was 16 and immature and also referred to the environment in which he was brought up and the "perverse atmosphere" which adults around him had towards matters of a sexual nature.
Taking these factors into account, he reduced the sentence to one of three and a half years.
In mitigation he said that 42 years had passed since the incidents and the accused had led a blameless life, was well-regarded in the community, that he is very remorseful and was completely cooperative with the authorities.
The probation services also placed him as being a low risk of reoffending, did not perceive him to be a threat to the community but did recommend certain treatment.
Although now married with children, he has become withdrawn from society socially and has not come to the attention of the authorities and does not have any previous convictions.
For all those factors the court reduced the sentence to one of two and a half years.
Judge Aylmer then said the court had to consider if the court could suspend part or all of the remaining sentence but said the matter was too grave to suspend all of the sentence saying there had to be a custodial sentence because in particular of the "appalling impact" it had on the complainant over the past 42 years.
On balance he said he would suspend the last 12 months of the sentence meaning the accused will serve one and a half years.
He must also sign on the sex offenders register and go under the care of the probation services for 12 months when released from prison.
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