Sick dad-of-six made son watch sex with mum in grim house of horrors | World | News

A « cruel » father who inflicted « terrible cruelty » on his six children, including locking one of them in a chest freezer, has been jailed. The 35-year-old Dublin man, who cannot be named to protect the children’s anonymity, pleaded guilty to six counts of child cruelty on dates between 2016 and 2020.

The six children – two boys and four girls – were said to appear underweight and pale for their ages and were often unclean and inadequately dressed. The youngest child, a baby girl just a few months old at the time, had been admitted to hospital covered in dried faeces several months before all six children were taken into care in January 2020. At that point, they ranged in age from 10 months to eight years old. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the children were frequently left without enough food, while the home they lived in was described as cold and in a state of severe neglect. Gardai, the Irish police, and social workers reported witnessing rodents, flies, and human waste during visits.

The court also heard that both parents were regularly consuming alcohol and drugs in the home. Following their removal, the children have since been placed across three separate foster homes, according to the Irish Mirror.

Yesterday, the man was handed a sentence of nine years and two months. The man’s then-partner and the children’s mother, 35, was handed a sentence of two-and-a-half years in 2025 after pleading guilty to a count of child neglect.#

The court heard that the man had been due to go on trial earlier this year, but entered guilty pleas after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) accepted a defence proposal. He has 20 previous convictions, primarily for minor public order offences.

The children spoke out about their harrowing experiences. The oldest boy, who was seven when he went into care, was singled out for particularly cruel treatment by the man, the court heard. This included not being given food and being locked in his room, a downstairs bathroom, a closet and a functioning chest freezer. The man attempted to suffocate the boy and often held his head underwater in the bath.

The oldest boy said the man made him watch him and the woman have sex, that the man would kick him in his privates, laugh and pull down his boxers.

He said: « You hated me for some reason. Told me I wasn’t part of your family. I don’t know why you were so cruel to me. »

He thinks the man « should be put in jail for over 30 years for what he put me and my siblings through », adding « I don’t want him to do it to any other children ».

The eldest girl said: « No one helped us ».

She added: « You are a selfish cruel man…All I wanted was a caring supportive dad. But no, I got a sh*tty one instead. »

A gardai investigation had begun in the summer of 2019 following a referral from Tusla, an independent Irish agency. The agency had already been involved with the family for several years, with concerns first raised in 2016 and escalating significantly through 2018 and 2019. Similar worries were flagged by doctors, a public health nurse and school staff. Safety plans introduced in mid-2019 were not adhered to.

The court heard that a baby girl was re-admitted to hospital covered in dried faeces, just a short time after an earlier 10-day stay in May 2019, when she was only a couple of months old. During part of that initial hospitalisation, both parents were absent.

Conditions inside the home were described as filthy, with frequent periods without electricity or heating. The children were sleeping on dirty mattresses without clean bed linen, and photographs of the property were presented to the court.

School attendance was also a concern. By mid-November 2018, the eldest girl, then eight, had attended just 28 days and missed 21, while her seven-year-old brother had a comparable pattern of absences. The children were often reported to be hungry at school, sometimes asking to take food home. There were also accounts of them seeking food from neighbours, raising serious concerns about whether they were being adequately fed.

The eldest boy told gardai he was frequently sent to bed as punishment, sometimes for no clear reason, and was regularly denied food as a consequence.

He also described being routinely slapped and struck by the man on his back, legs and chest. He said the violence dated back to when he was around three and a half years old. Despite the injuries, he was never taken for medical treatment and told officers he would often struggle to run or play afterwards, at times feeling as though his back was broken.

The court heard that the children’s mother was often present during these assaults.

Timothy O’Leary SC, defending, said his client takes full responsibility for his actions and is extremely sorry and recognises he should have been a better father. The man has since undergone drug treatment.