A BUS driver repeatedly committed incest on his daughter when she was aged between 10 and 16, but she only told police last year when she was 18 because she had feared she would be sent to a girls' home, the High Court heard yesterday.
The 48-year-old man has denied eight sample charges of incest dating from 1984 to 1990, and one count of indecent assault when she was 16. He is on trial before Mr Justice Duffy and a jury.
Paul Dinan, prosecuting on a fiat, said in his opening address the man had confessed to police that he had sexual intercourse with the girl but did not think she was his daughter.
Mr Dinan said the Crown did not accept that and told jurors they might think it was an attempt by the man to lessen the seriousness of the matter.
He said the defendant took advantage of his daughter from the time she was 10 and continued to do so until she was 16.
The man, who also has a son, separated from his wife a couple of years after the girl was born. Both children lived with him and his parents.
Mr Dinan said the alleged victim went to the police when she was 18 to make a complaint of incest. She had said she did not make a report earlier because she did not want to be put in a girls' home.