Man receives14 year jail sentence for abuse of young sisters in Galway
A man who became a trusted member of a family after befriending them has been jailed for 14 years for the continual sexual abuse of two of their young daughters in Galway.
Benedick Joel (46) of Carraig Art, Truskey West, Barna, was convicted following a Central Criminal Court trial last February of 24 counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted anal rape on dates in 2017 and 2018.
The court heard that ten counts relate to the sexual assault of the younger sister, while the remaining charges, including the attempted anal rape, relate to the older sister.
Joel had pleaded not guilty and does not accept the verdicts.
The court heard that Joel, originally from Nigeria, was referred to as ‘Uncle Ben’ by the children, in recognition of the depth of their affection and respect they had for him.
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While both women – now aged in their twenties – wish for Joel to be named in reporting the case, they do not want to be identified themselves.
Mark Lynam SC, prosecuting, said that the abuse initially took the form of Joel carrying out ‘body checks’ on the girls, both in his own apartment in Barna and in their family home.
The younger sister was first to report the sexual abuse in January 2022. She was 16 when first interviewed by specialist Gardaí. Her older sister then disclosed that she had been similarly abused by Joel.
Joel was arrested and, while he was co-operative, he denied that anything inappropriate had occurred.
The older sister told the court she suffered depression, anxiety and self-harm and for some time was not able to receive treatment because she could not afford it.
“For over ten years I carried a weight on my shoulders that I was sure would crush me,” she said, adding that it was similar to ‘a cloud over me with no sunny days’.
Sentencing Joel on Monday, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said the case warranted headline sentences of 13 years and nine years before he imposed sentences of eleven years and seven and a half years.
The judge said that it was appropriate that he impose consecutive sentences to reflect that Joel sexually abused two young girls in the one family.
He then reduced the sentences further before imposing a global sentence of 15 and half years, suspending the final 18 months to ‘encourage victim insight and rehabilitation’.