Bedtime stories with a nightmarish ending
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HE didn't just rob them of the major things like their trust, their innocence, their childhood and their future. He also stole away the precious little moments too.
The sleepy contentment of a bedtime story, blissful summer days at the beach, idle moments spent in front of the television, even a brother's first holy communion -- all tainted and corrupted by a man they called father, uncle, neighbour or family friend.
The atmosphere in Court Eight was that of sickened silence, broken only by the sobbing of the man's daughter, as the catalogue of vile violations against seven little girls was read aloud yesterday with a total of 14 sample counts of indecent assault, in a period from 1974 to 1989.
Bearded and respectable to the casual observer, the man sat with a neat overnight bag at his feet, his wife by his side. She is standing by him -- a fact that their daughter finds most difficult to bear, as she told the court yesterday.
The daughter's violent pain was appalling to witness as, in an emotional outburst, she requested that people leave the courtroom, as investigating officer Peter Cooney began to tell of how the abuse first started.
It had begun at bedtime, when her father had read stories to her as a young child. She remembered stories from the 'Just William' books, or stories he would tell her about fairies or about her grandmother.
As time went on, he abused his daughter "very frequently", between the ages of 11 to 13, and it was generally the same -- he would put his hand between her legs and she would pretend to be asleep because it was "less embarrassing" that way.
She didn't tell her mother, who would usually be downstairs watching television, because she felt her mother would say it was her own fault.
There were other incidents of the same kind of abuse -- and then one night he came into her bedroom when she was 13 years old and she said "no".
Victims
He left the room and never touched her in that way again. She felt guilty she hadn't done this earlier.
Six other victims included the man's two nieces -- one of whom he referred to as his "special godchild", two nieces of his wife, a neighbour's child and another child who had come across the man on a Shannon cruise family holiday.
The court heard of the effects left on these women -- the sleeplessness, tearfulness, difficulty maintaining relationships, flashbacks and guilt.
And then, trembling violently as she took the bible in her hand to give the oath, the man's daughter took the stand to give her Victim Impact Statement.
Counsel for the DPP suggested that it must have been particularly difficult given that her abuser had been her father and, sobbing, the woman replied: "My heart is just broke."
"When your dad does that and your mam stands by him, it just makes you feel worthless," she said.
Her father -- her abuser -- bowed his head and wept for what he had done, as his wife sat numbly erect.
Every day is a battle, the woman said. "You think everybody knows and you're just a piece of dirt."
She wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for counselling. It has made her realise that somebody has to stand up to protect the children and say "stop". She has a son and two daughters of her own. They are "her life", she said.
She is grateful for her father's plea of guilty -- it is, she said, the only thing for which she would say "thank you".
- Nicola Anderson
