Leitrim man jailed for six years for repeated rape and sexual assault of his young niece

A Leitrim man who has worked as a carer has been jailed for six years for the repeated rape and sexual assault of his young niece over 40 years ago.

Sean McDonald (62) of Tawneymachugh, Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court last July to 11 representative counts relating to the rape and sexual assault of a child from 1977 to 1982. Christina Elliott was aged 7 to 11 during this period, while McDonald was 14 to 18.

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The abuse took place during visits by Ms Elliott and her family to her mother's family home in Glencar, Co Leitrim, and McDonald was left to babysit Ms Elliott and other children.

Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, told Justice Melanie Greally that the complainant wished to waive her anonymity so that McDonald could be publicly named. He said that Ms Elliott was happy for her own name to be published, and the sentence hearing was held in an open courtroom.

Members of Ms Elliot's immediate family were in court, as were members of McDonald's immediate family. Ms Elliot now lives in Scotland, the court heard.

Justice Greally said that the case the abuse encompassed a broad range of sexual violations which were carried out with regularity over a period of just over five years.

She said that the extreme youth of the victim, the age difference, and the breach of trust were aggravating factors in the case. She noted the fact that the abuse took place in her grandparents' home, a place which should have afforded safety to a child.

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Justice Greally noted that the immense and immeasurable harm caused to the injured party by the offending.

She noted that a Probation Service assessment states that McDonald is at a low risk of reoffending but does not show any insight into the impact of his behaviour.

The report identified a reluctance by the defendant to speak about the harm he has caused. It further stated that he tended to minimise the impact of his conduct and attributed it to “immaturity and sexual exploration”.

Justice Greally said that while the likely initial motive for the abuse may have been sexual curiosity, the later continued assaults were “manifestly conducted for sexual gratification”.

Desmond Dockery SC, defending, handed nine-character references on affidavit from family members and some local supporters of McDonald, including a former chairman of St Osnats GAA club in Glencar.

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Justice Greally said these were evidence that in his adult life McDonald had made a substantial positive contribution to his local community and that he enjoys the continued support and affection of his family.

She said she accepted that the guilty pleas had spared the victim the further trauma of giving evidence in a trial and were a public acknowledgement of his wrongdoing. But she said she could give him minimal credit for remorse as “he has no true appreciation or understanding of the harm he has caused”.

She set a headline sentence of 18 years, which she reduced to seven years to take into account the fact that McDonald was a minor for most of the period of the offending. She suspended the final year on condition that McDonald engage with offence-focused work under the Probation Service.

Detective Garda Lydia Cauley told the court that the victim's mother is originally from Leitrim but had moved to Scotland. During family visits to the victim's grandparents in Leitrim, the defendant would often be left to babysit the victim and older children.

She was aged seven when McDonald began sexually assaulting her by touching her private parts. He would also force her to let him give her oral sex and put his penis into her mouth; Dt Gda Lydia told the court.

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Dt Gda Cauley said that she was unable to say how many times McDonald assaulted her, but that it took place whenever her grandparents were out of the house and sometimes when they were sleeping.

She testified that the abuse “escalated to full rape on two occasions”. She later agreed with Desmond Dockery SC, defending, that there was no evidence of whether McDonald carried out the rape while he was still a juvenile or after he had turned 18.

All the offending ended in August 1982 when a cousin of the victim began sleeping in the same room as her, and he no longer had undetected access to the child, Justice Greally said.

The victim made a formal complaint to the police in Scotland in February 2021, and they contacted the gardai. Gardai questioned McDonald in June 2023, and he denied ever babysitting the victim and said that her allegations were lies and nonsense.

McDonald was charged with two counts of rape and 90 counts of indecent assault. A trial was set to start on July 9 when McDonald pleaded guilty to 11 representative counts.

He pleaded guilty on that day to one charge of rape and ten counts of indecent assault on unknown dates between October 1977 and August 1982.

In her victim impact statement, read out by Dt Gda Cauley, the victim said the abuse left her feeling disgusting and vile as a child. She said she continues to struggle with the trauma and suffers flashbacks, depression and nightmares as a result of the abuse.

She said the abuse left her struggling with her mental health as a teenager and affected her later relationships with her children and grandchildren.