A 47-year-old man has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail for the rape and sexual assault of his sister.
The Central Criminal Court was told Emmett Baylor, of Hilltop, Youghal, Co Cork, began sexually abusing his sister when she was just six years old and he was aged 12.
Emmett Baylor pleaded not guilty at his trial.
He does not accept the jury's unanimous verdicts - delivered last month - that he sexually and indecently assaulted his sister Niamh Herbert, and subsequently raped her several times.
He was brought to court in custody to be sentenced.
Ms Herbert told the court how her brother had inflicted "a lifetime of damage" on her.
She waived her right to anonymity, allowing Baylor to be identified. She said she grieves for the childhood and youth he stole from her.
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Ms Herbert said her brother's abuse was calculated. She said she carried the unbearable weight of his crimes on her shoulders.
She said she suffered anxiety, depression and panic attacks, but Baylor could not hurt her anymore and she hoped he would never have the opportunity to harm anybody else.
The court was told Baylor worked at sea for Irish Lights and was about to be promoted but had lost his job.
His father, Brendan Baylor, gave a character reference for his son in court.
Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford said Baylor's age at the time these offences were committed, along with his lack of maturity, had to be taken into account in sentencing.
Taking other factors into account, she jailed him for two-and-a-half years.
'Speak your truth'
Speaking after the sentence was delivered, Ms Herbert said she felt she had got justice and she urged others in her position to come forward and tell someone about their abuse too.
"I stand here not as a victim but as a strong woman who has got her long, overdue justice," she said.
"To anyone listening who has been harmed by another person, let me tell you that you are strong, that you have everything you have inside of you to keep you going.
"Speak your truth. People will listen. People will support you and you will be believed."
Ms Herbert read her victim impact statement to the court earlier.
Ms Justice Lankford described it as coherent and compelling.
"It was guilt. The crushing fear that you might be hurting other children"
Ms Herbert described delivering her victim impact statement to the court as "personal and painful".
"There are no words to sum up a lifetime of damage, but I have to try," she said.
"I was just a little girl when you started to abuse me, and made me a victim.
"You trapped me for years in a cycle of fear and terror.
"Countless nights I lay in bed, frozen in fear, counting footsteps, terrified of what might come next. Those memories haunt me to this day.
"The terror didn't stop when the sexual abuse ended. I still grieve for the childhood and youth you stole from me, for the years of innocence and joy I will never get back."
Herbert says brother's abuse was calculated
Ms Herbert said her brother's abuse was calculated.
"You knew exactly what you were doing, and you knew it was wrong," she said.
"I carried your secret for years. The shame, the blame, the unbearable weight of your crime was sat on my shoulders.
"At just 13 years old, I turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain and quiet the torture in my mind.
"I was angry and empty, drinking to blackout, crying myself to sleep.
"I would wrap my scarves around my face, put my head inside my pillowcase and hope I wouldn't wake up in the morning.
"I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had lived in a safe and loving home, but I'll never know.
"Due to your abuse, I have suffered with anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, panic attacks, and sensory distress.
"I have to take mental health medication and sleeping tablets. I will need to take them for the rest of my life."
"I am a grown woman now and you can't hurt me anymore"
"From 2018 onwards I spent many nights parked outside the garda station, willing myself to find the courage and strength to walk inside and tell them what you had done to me," she said.
"In the end, it wasn't courage or strength that made me take that step.
"It was guilt. The crushing fear that you might be hurting other children.
"I knew I would never truly rest unless I spoke out. I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't."
"You prey on people's vulnerability and fear," Ms Herbert added.
"When that doesn't work, you turn to lies and manipulation - trying to gain sympathy to serve yourself.
"I am a grown woman now and you can't hurt me anymore."
She thanked the jury for believing her and returning guilty verdicts.
Ms Herbert also thanked Detective Yvonne Cashman of the Cork County Garda Protective Services Unit, who investigated the case.
"I'm forever grateful to the family that stood by and supported me through it all: My husband Paul, my brother Martin, Norma and Sarah.
"To my dear friends also, you know who you are," she said.
She thanked the people of Youghal, and said people's reaction to her had been overwhelmingly positive.
"I have built a wonderful life with my husband, Paul. I am surrounded by support and love and I am very grateful," she said.
