Dundalk court: Mother jailed for reckless endangerment of daughters
A 43 year old woman whose two daughters were abused by a man who had groomed them, despite persistent warnings from the authorities about his relationship with them, was last week jailed for three and a half years at Dundalk Circuit Court.
The defendant, who can't be named to protect the victims' identities, pleaded guilty to nine counts of reckless endangerment of a child in relation to both of her daughters, putting them at substantial risk of being sexually abused by the man.
The offences before the court last Thursday related to an address in County Louth, where the defendant had moved to from abroad, after coming to the attention of the authorities there initially over concerns about neglect and malnourishment and subsequently over the man's relationship with the two girls, which was echoed by the authorities here.
The offending occurred between December 3rd 2010 and November 11th 2011 when the victims were aged 12 and 10.
Their abuser, who had an affluent lifestyle, is serving 14 years having been convicted by a jury in the Central Criminal Court of raping the defendant's daughters and sexually assaulting them.
Judge Dara Hayes said the mother of four, had sacrificed both girls to a paedophile and the price of her lifestyle should not have been her own children.
He said this gross betrayal by their mother had a devastating impact on them and he noted that one of the tragedies is that the four siblings had been split up and placed in care.
He said there cannot be many who have had a more difficult childhood than the victims.
The Judge noted a psychiatric report found the defendant's own abuse in late childhood, her admission to a psychiatric hospital in late adolescence and early adulthood created a vulnerability, and she believes she was taken advantage of, while the Probation report assessed her as being at low risk of reoffending.
After imposing concurrent sentences of three and a half years on the defendant, Judge Hayes wished both victims "the very best for the rest of their lives".