An 80-year-old man has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for indecently assaulting his two daughters in County Clare during the early 1970s.
The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the anonymity of his victims, was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault after a week-long trial at the Central Criminal Court
The 80 year old man pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of indecently assaulting his daughter in a house and later a caravan in County Clare between January 1971 and December 1973 when she was aged between 11 and 13
He also denied indecently assaulting another daughter twice in 1980 at a caravan in County Clare, when she was aged 11 or 12.
During his trial, he made admissions to one of these offences and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said he was effectively treating that admission as a plea of guilty.
The court heard victim impact statements from the man's daughters outlining their anxiety, depression and constant fear from an early age because of their father's abuse.
Describing his crimes as a fundamental breach of trust Judge McCarthy said the 80 year old's age was the only mitigating factor, but wasn't significant as he seemed to be a healthy man.
The four and a half year sentence was backdated to June 2014 and the man will be listed on the sex offenders register.
