Uncle sentenced for abusing nieces at county locations

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The efficacy of the Stay Safe Programme, taught in primary schools to equip children with the skills to avoid and/or report sexual abuse, empowered one child to come forward and report her uncle. The 50-year-old man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the child and her sisters, has been sentenced to three years in prison for sexually abusing all six girls, then aged between nine and 15, on various dates over a 12-month period between 2010 and 2011 in the county. The man, who appeared on crutches before Galway Circuit Criminal Court having recently undergone a hip operation, pleaded guilty to six sample charges of indecent assault against his nieces at various locations in a rural area of Co. Galway. Garda Noelle Barrett told the sentence hearing the man began to abuse the children shortly after arriving at their family home to help the girls' mother, who is his sister. The abuse came to light when one of the children was taught the Stay Safe Programme in fourth class in her Primary school. She and her siblings then reported the abuse. Judge Rory McCabe imposed concurrent, three-year sentences for each of the six charges.