A man has been jailed for eleven years for raping a ten-year-old girl who was so afraid of her attacker that she only told her teddy bears about the abuse.
A sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork heard that the young girl was first raped by the partner of her much older sister after he lured her to a bedroom on the pretence of showing her puppets.
He told her to keep the abuse a secret from her family.
Last June, a 12-man jury in Cork returned a unanimous guilty verdict against the 58-year-old man for raping the girl.
He was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
The trial heard that the charges related to a period between January 1995 and December 1997 when the girl was aged between ten and 12.
Detective Garda Aidan Dardis said that the man raped the child on two occasions and sexually assaulted her once.
The youngster was visiting the house of her sister when the man brought her in to a bedroom to "show her puppets".
However, he then sexually assaulted and raped her.
Detective Garda Dardis said that the man who was convicted of the offence had a "disorganised lifestyle" and "moved around" a lot.
He was remanded in custody following his conviction in June.
In a victim impact statement which was read into evidence, the woman said that she had a "joyful" childhood until the partner of her sister raped her.
She said: "When the ordeal was over, he told me to keep it secret. I changed as a child. I was no longer a happy child and joyful.
"The only ones I said this to were my teddy bears. I was afraid to tell anyone. I am on guard even as an adult.
"I had horrific nightmares. I was really scared to tell my parents. My nightmares scared my parents as they didn't know why I was having horrible dreams.
"I still have dreams. I had one only last week. I wake up screaming. I am nervous in closed spaces."
The woman said she held on to her secret for 24 years before she reported it to gardaí because she was "afraid of what he (the man) would do".
Prosecution senior counsel Ray Boland said that the case fell in the bracket of more serious offences of this type and merited a headline sentence of between ten and 15 years.
The man still maintains his innocence.
Tom Creed SC, counsel for the defence, said that his client had an "unhappy childhood" having been "bullied a lot".
Mr Justice Michael McGrath said that the injured party was a "courageous" person who had "suffered significantly".
He noted the lack of apology or any visible sign of remorse by the man which he factored into his decision not to suspend any portion of the eleven-year sentence.
A psychiatric report had indicated that the man had "persecutory beliefs".
