Former Limerick-based garda found guilty of sexually assaulting his niece

A GARDA who previously served in the Limerick division has been found guilty of sexually assaulting his 10-year-old niece in a bedroom at his home following a family event.

A victim impact statement is to be prepared by the young girl ahead of a sentencing hearing which will take place in May.

The garda, who can’t be named in order to protect the identity of the victim, briefly lowered his head and put his face in his hands when the 11-1 majority verdict was delivered this Wednesday.

The injured party's parents wept quietly and embraced at the back of the courtroom.

The presiding judge remanded the man on continuing bail after hearing there was no objection to bail from the State.

“That is not to be taken,” the judge said, “in any way as an indication that a lenient sentence will be passed in this matter. I regard it as a serious case.”

After deliberating for two hours and 34 minutes, the jury of four women and eight men found the accused guilty by an 11-1 majority.

The judge told the jury that he agreed with the verdict and commended the members for their commitment and concentration during the two-week trial. He excused them from further jury duty for 10 years.

“I want to say,” the judge added, “I am very impressed with the evidence given by [the injured party] and with her bravery. To go through a process like this is far from easy, even for an adult.”

During the trial, the court heard that the injured party travelled with her mother and her grandparents to the home of the accused and the accused's wife, who is the injured party's mother's sister, on Saturday, November 26, 2016.

The adults went to a function that night while the injured party, who was aged 10, stayed in the accused's house with the accused's own young son and a babysitter.

The garda left the family gathering early to go home and allow the babysitter to leave. The court heard that he went into the bedroom where the injured party was staying and sexually assaulted her.

A doctor who examined the injured party in a hospital sexual assault unit said the girl's mother told him that the girl said her uncle had come into the bedroom where she was sleeping and rubbed her back “for a period of time” and then “her bottom was rubbed” and then “fingers were inserted into her front bum”. He understood that to mean her vaginal area.

The accused man who denied the charge did not give evidence during the trial.

The accused's wife told the court last week that her husband was “shocked” and “devastated” when the allegation was put to him the next morning in their home.

The father of the injured party told the court that his wife rang him on the Sunday morning to tell him what their daughter said about the assault. He said he travelled to the garda’s home and confronted him.

When confronted outside his front door, the defendant said “oh God no, no” when it was put to him that he touched the 10-year-old girl inappropriately.

The accused also told GSOC investigators that the allegations against him were “all lies” and he told a garda superintendent that the injured party was “a good kid but a compulsive liar”.

He will be sentenced on May 8.