Dublin man jailed for five years for sexual abuse of nieces
A Dublin man who abused two of his nieces has been jailed for five years.
The abuse began at their grandmother's home in 1991 when one of his victims was just eight years old.
In her victim impact statement, the older girl said she had a great and loving childhood until the age of eight when her innocence was taken away by her uncle
The younger girl was first abused when she was six and said she felt embarrassed and violated having to bring a family member to court.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the victims' identities, was convicted of 41 counts of sexual assault against the two girls between 1991 and 2009.
Gardaí became aware of the abuse in 2010 and their uncle totally denied all the allegations put to him.
One of the girls described how he first assaulted her while she was lying on her bed at the family home.
The other said she was afraid to tell anyone in case the family were split up.
Several letters from the man's family were handed into court today as part of his sentence hearing. They described him as a "caring and kind" person.
Judge Sarah Berkeley then jailed him for seven years with the final two years suspended. The 43-year-old has also been put on the sex offenders register.
