Galway Bay fm newsroom:
A Polish man who raped a woman who was working as a cleaner for him in Galway has been jailed for 15 years after a judge said the man had treated her like a slave and a sex object.
His victim became pregnant after she was raped by the man who had been introduced to her as a good guy who could help her with some financial difficulties.
The 68-year-old accused man has convictions for rape from Poland and has served a three-year prison sentence for threat to kill following an Irish conviction.
The woman was first introduced to the man while she and her partner were struggling financially having moved to Ireland.
The couple were living in Galway when the woman took up an offer of accommodation at the man's home, along with her two daughters, on the understanding that she would work as a cleaner for him.
The woman and her partner were also going through a difficult time in their relationship as he was drinking heavily.
The accused man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the woman, was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury last July on two counts of rape and four counts of oral rape on dates between January 1, 2012 and September 18, 2016.
This week Ms Justice Tara Burns described the woman's victim impact report as 'chilling'.
Ms Justice Burns described as 'horrifying' that in modern times the man had 'possessed, controlled and falsely imprisoned the woman for his own sexual gratification'.
She said there was 'no mitigating factors in the case' and that a life sentence would be appropriate before she took into account the man's age and health issues and imposed a sentence of 15 years.
