A McDonald\u2019s security guard who was described as a trusted family friend has been jailed for 14 years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two sisters when they were children.<\/p>\n
Benedick Jole (46) of Carraig Art, Truskey West, Barna, Galway, who is originally from Nigeria, denied 24 charges of sexual assault and one charge of attempted anal rape on one of the girls, who was a teenager at the time.<\/p>\n
Jole, who has been in Ireland for over 20 years, became so close to the family that he was called \u201cUncle Ben\u201d by the victims.<\/p>\n
Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said that the accused had not accepted his guilt, but that it was the court\u2019s wish that he would come to do so in time.\u00a0The victims, who are now in their 20s, joined the sentencing via video link.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The abuse of the elder girl took place when she was between the ages of 11 and 15 years, with the accused found guilty of one count of attempted anal rape and 14 counts of sexual assault. <\/p>\n
The court heard that when the younger sister told their mother what had happened to her, the disclosure was met with some disbelief, such was the level of trust Jole had with the family, who are also originally from Nigeria.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the sisters was abused after she broke her leg in circumstances where Jole offered to help her take a shower before he began to touch her inappropriately while her parents were away. Other incidents involved \u201cintense hugging\u201d where the accused would press his erect penis on the girl.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sisters were also subjected to a series of \u201cbody checks\u201d, where \u201cpuberty\u201d was used as a pretext to touch intimate parts of their bodies. This abuse featured instances where Jole would commit acts of digital rape.<\/p>\n
Joel started touching the chest of one of the girls who had fallen asleep watching TV. He then tried to anally rape her but ended up ejaculating on her bottom as she continually begged him to stop.<\/p>\n
In her victim impact statement, one of the girls described a \u201cdark cloud\u201d that would surround her because of the abuse and that her parents viewed her as a \u201clazy and disrespectful child\u201d when in reality she was struggling to cope with what had been done to her.<\/p>\n
Justice Naidoo said that it was \u201capparent\u201d from the evidence both women gave during the trial that \u201cthey are both exceedingly bright and articulate young women\u201d who were left feeling \u201cisolated and hurt\u201d during a \u201ccritical period of development\u201d because of the campaign of abuse.<\/p>\n
He said that the abuse had resulted in\u201creal and lasting harm\u201d, noting the \u201csignificant breach of trust\u201d and \u201cvery high level of moral culpability\u201d of the accused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In respect of the first sister, he set a headline sentence of 13 years for each count to run concurrently, while a headline sentence for the offences against the second sister was set at nine years.<\/p>\n
An effective sentence of 11 years was passed in respect of the more serious offending against the first sister, while the second sentence was set at seven years and six months, with the final 18 months suspended for two years.<\/p>\n
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