<p>
	A man who raped and sexually assaulted his step-daughter over an eight-year period has received a 14-year prison sentence.</p>
<p>
	Noel Maher (42) began sexually assaulting Amy Kenna in August 2001, when she was 10 years old and began raping her when she was aged 13. The Central Criminal Court heard that the victim was waiving her right to anonymity so that Maher can be identified.</p>
<p>
	Sergeant Adrian McQueeney earlier told prosecuting council Conor Devally SC that in November 2009 gardai were called to the home address where an argument between the man and his step-daughter was taking place.</p>
<p>
	In the course of the argument, the victim, who was 18 at the time, told garda&iacute; she had been raped and subjected to sexual assault over an eight-year period by her step-father.</p>
<p>
	She said that he started to sexually assault her when she was between 10 and 13 years of age and told her &quot;this is what is going to happen&quot;.</p>
<p>
	She told gardai she recalled a threat from him that if she told anyone he would kill her and harm her siblings.</p>
<p>
	&quot;It was persistent, frequent and unrelenting activity,&quot; Mr Devally told the court. &quot;He groomed her in a controlled fashion with threats of violence. He would text her to come to him from wherever she was in the house and over time she complied with him.&quot;</p>
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	Last July, after a seven-day trial, a jury found Maher guilty of three counts of sexually assaulting the girl on dates between August 2001 and August 2007 at different locations in Co Laois.</p>
<p>
	Maher, formerly of Barrow Way, Spa Street, Portarlington was also convicted of 34 counts of raping the girl on dates between August 2005 to November 2009.</p>
<p>
	As part of his bail conditions, Maher was living at Barrack Street, Cork City, from 2012 to 2014.</p>
<p>
	In a victim impact statement, Ms Kenna said she &quot;panics&quot; at night but this has lessened since she reported the crime to gardai. Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan said that the victim has undergone great suffering. &quot;She has shown great courage and resilience,&quot; he said.</p>
<p>
	He said that the appropriate sentence was 14 years and, noting the absence of any expression of remorse, he found no mitigating circumstances in Maher&#39;s defence.</p>
<p>
	He suspended the last two years of the sentence in order to encourage Maher to rehabilitate.</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/stepdad-groomed-girl-for-sex-from-the-age-of-13-30683516.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/stepdad-groomed-girl-for-sex-from-the-age-of-13-30683516.html</a></p>
