€150,000 successful settlement of a childhood sexual abuse case

Background to the case

Coleman Legal LLP were involved in the successful High Court Civil jury trial regarding childhood sexual abuse. The claimant in this case alleges she was raped and sexually abused by her brother between 1976 and 1980, when she was just eight years of age, and was awarded €150,000 damages by a High Court jury on the 13th November 2015. 

In her action, the Plaintiff claimed that her brother was aged 12 or 13 at the time, and the abuse continued for about four years. It was only after counselling sessions years later that she was able to deal with and realise the full extent of the psychological damage resulting from the childhood sexual abuse. When she revealed the abuse to her family, she received very little support and was not believed by either her parents or her siblings, save one sister, now deceased.

High Court civil jury trial

The civil action was heard for eight days, and the jury of five men and seven women returned its verdict after just over three hours of deliberation on Thursday, 12th and Friday, 13th of November 2015. In reply to the question as to whether the Defendant carried out assault and battery on his sister on any of the occasions alleged by her, the jury replied: “Yes”.

It was also found that he had falsely imprisoned her on many occasions. The jury assessed general damages to date and into the future at €125,000 and aggravated damages at €25,000. The Defendant denied all the claims and was supported throughout the eight-day trial by his wife, four sisters and his brother, who nearly all gave evidence for him.

Impact of the abuse

The effect of the abuse resulted in the Plaintiff suffering from psychiatric difficulties, depression, difficulties connecting with her children, and marital difficulties. In recent years, her life has improved, and she has retrained and returned to work.

The Plaintiff has been disciplined and productive in availing herself of all of the support services available to her and is seeking the help she needs to repair the damage that has been inflicted as a result of years of childhood sexual abuse.