A 39-year-old Galway man has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended for the defilement, sexual assault and exploitation of a 13-year-old schoolgirl four years ago.
Ray McHugh, with an address at Belclare in Tuam, was convicted following the retrieval of explicit text messages on the child's phone.
During the nine-day trial at Galway Circuit Criminal Court, the jury of seven women and five men heard how McHugh first forced the girl to perform a sexual act on him during the Halloween school holidays in 2014.
It followed months of sexual abuse and exploitation.
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The jury of seven women and five men heard how McHugh had bought the schoolgirl a charm bracelet for her 13th birthday and that the abuse began shortly afterwards.
The court heard how the married father of one was in a position of trust and had allowed an evolving degree of acquaintance advance to intimacy.
During interviews with trained gardaí, the girl said she was confused when McHugh first started hugging and kissing her before progressing to sexually assaulting her while pinning her against a wall.
McHugh sent the girl numerous sexually explicit text messages which were read to the jury.
McHugh had denied 20 sample charges of sexual abuse and exploitation.
He claimed he was suffering from a medical condition at the time and could not have committed the offences. His medical records were produced in court to confirm he had been prescribed medication for the condition.
The texts came to light when the girl's phone had frozen and her mother was examining the device.
She contacted gardaí and they were able to retrieve the messages.
McHugh had instructed the schoolgirl to delete the texts. He warned her that he would lose his wife, his job, his house and that he would go to jail if anyone found out.
McHugh admitted in hindsight that the texts had been "very stupid" and inappropriate.
He told gardaí they had started out as a joke and spiralled out of control.
He said he had cried himself to sleep and felt suicidal when the allegations were made against him.
In a victim impact statement, the girl said the abuse and subsequent trial were the worst experiences of her life. She suffers nightmares and rarely socialises.
Now aged 17, she was in court today with her family but they declined to comment afterwards.
McHugh hung his head and cried when sentence was handed down,
The court heard how he came from a respectable background and had no previous convictions. He knew he had brought "untold pain, suffering and shame" on his wife and child, his mother and his siblings.
