Woman sexually assaulted by her uncle as a child awarded €232,000 in High Court

A woman who was sexually assaulted by her uncle over a five-year period when she was a child has been awarded more than €232,000 by the High Court.Grace Odumosu told the court that her uncle Patrick Caffrey (55) had kissed and touched her, starting when she was nine years old, and said it happened more than 100 times.Odumosu, from Kimmage, Dublin, has sued Caffrey, of Grove Road, Harold’s Cross, Rathmines, Dublin, stating that between the ages of nine and 13 she was wrongfully and intentionally subjected to sexual abuse.The abuse occurred at Caffrey’s house, in his daughter’s bedroom or in the kitchen.READ MOREIn 2021, Caffrey was jailed for a total of three years for sexually assaulting four of his nieces, including Odumosu.Dublin Circuit Criminal Court at the time heard Caffrey engaged in “persistent, nasty and insidious” offending over a 12-year period against his four nieces. He had pleaded guilty to 22 charges of sexual assault on his nieces between December 1991 and December 2003.In a judgment on Wednesday, Judge Paul Coffey said he found Odumosu to be an impressive witness. He said he was satisfied that Caffrey had embarked upon a sustained course of sexual abuse of Odumosu over a period of five years. He accepted Odumosu’s evidence that the kissing alone occurred on more than 100 occasions and formed part of a continuing pattern of abuse throughout her childhood.Coffey found as a fact that Odumosu’s injury “resulted not merely from the individual acts of abuse viewed in isolation but from their cumulative effect over a prolonged period”.The judge said the abuse itself caused substantial injury, but “the disclosure of that abuse, although necessary and entirely justified, resulted in further trauma and family fragmentation”.He added: “Ms Odumosu was therefore required to endure not only the abuse itself, but also the profound familial consequences of bringing that abuse into the open.”The judge assessed damages for pain and suffering at €175,000, and future pain and suffering at €50,000. The total with special damages and an award in relation to therapy sessions came to €232,360.The judge said that although Odumosu had demonstrated considerable resilience in her education, employment and family life, resilience should not be mistaken for recovery.“I am satisfied that the effects of the abuse remain active and will continue into the future,” the judge said.In the proceedings before the High Court, it was claimed that Odumosu’s constitutional rights to bodily integrity had been breached, and Caffrey had exploited or abused his dominant position. He had also concealed his behaviour so he was able to perpetrate the abuse on an ongoing basis, it was claimed.Odumosu felt she was groomed, and the abuse changed her life, turned her life upside down and removed her confidence.The court heard that judgment had already been obtained in default of defence.In evidence, Odumosu said the abuse had started in Caffrey’s daughter’s bedroom when he touched her, but her cousin would not have seen.“It happened so often, it felt like it was always happening, over 100 times over the years,” she said.She said her first kiss was from Caffrey. “It made me feel gross. That was my first kiss,” she said.