A man who was found guilty of eight counts of indecently assaulting his sister-in-law when she was aged as young as six has been jailed for three years.
Tom O'Brien, 71, with an address at Toberabreeda, Co Tipperary, denied the charges but was found guilty by a jury at Clonmel Circuit Court on all eight counts.
The court heard during a sentencing hearing today that some of the incidents of abuse happened when the victim, Anne Popplewell, lived with her sister and Mr O'Brien, who was her sister's husband, in the 1970s in Lattin, Co Tipperary, after the victim's father died and her mother moved to England.
After 18 months she went to live with her mother.She made an initial complaint to gardaí in 2009 but for personal reasons did not pursue it until 2015, when the garda investigation proceeded.
In a victim impact statement, Mrs Popplewell said she had suffered from "extreme anxiety" over the years because of what happened to her as a child, and felt "great relief" since O'Brien was found guilty.
Judge Thomas Teehan said that, as with most such cases, the principal aggravating factor was the victim's age when the offences took place.
O'Brien had told gardaí that he himself was abused when he was young, by another male.
"This is a not uncommon factor in cases such as this, but it is by no means an excuse," the judge said. "No person should have to undergo what Mrs Popplewell underwent here."
