A man has been jailed for the rape and sexual assault of minors after being found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of a girl and the sexual assault of her sister.
Hamed Azeez was found guilty by the Central Criminal Court last March of one count of rape of a girl who was aged between 6 and 8 years old as well as three counts of sexually assaulting the same girl.
He was also found guilty of two counts of sexual assault in respect of the first victim’s older sister who was aged between 8 and 10 at the time.
Azeez,who has an address at Mac Uilliam Dale, Tallaght in Dublin, was in a relationship with the girl’s mother at the time of offending and was today sentenced to 11-years imprisonment for the offences which took place between 2015 and 2018.
Both victims indicated that although they wished their own identities to be concealed, they wanted Azeez to be identified to the public.
Sentencing Ms. Justice Eileen Creedon said that Azeez had been in a long term relationship with the girls’ mother and was in a position of trust in respect of the young children when he abused them.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said that although found guilty by a jury, Azeez still does not accept any wrongdoing and has not offered an apology to the victims.
She instructed that he be added to the sex offender’s register.
Azeez has previous convictions dating back approximately 20 years, and came to Ireland in the year 2000.
At a previous hearing at the case a prosecuting Garda said that at the time of the abuse Azeez was acting in loco parentis in respect of the girls.
The court heard that after a complaint was made to Gardaí Azeez denied any wrongdoing.
Evidence given to the court said that Azeez raped the first girl on a kitchen counter in his house and on other occasions touched the same child inappropriately.
The second girl was touched inappropriately on her chest area and buttocks.
In victim impact statements read for the court by counsel, the first victim said that she no longer feels comfortable around older men and spoke of how the abuse had damaged her relationship with her mother as she blames her for what took place.
The second victim said that the abuse made her distance herself from loved ones and relatives as she didn’t want to be ‘misunderstood’ or ‘discarded’ by them.
She said that she had had a feeling that if she had been aware of what sexual abuse was sooner, she and her sister may have been able to avoid the extent of their ordeal.