A pensioner who raped a six-year-old girl in 1979 will be jailed for two years after prison authorities assess how his medical care needs will be met in custody.

Dan Flynn, a Co Tipperary resident, was 36 when he raped the girl.

Now aged 76, he suffers from a range of medical issues including Parkinson’s Disease.

His victim told the Central Criminal Court that Flynn, a farm labourer who had lived with his late mother, was a “cruel, bad tempered man” whom she was afraid of as a child.

She was visiting Flynn’s mother at his home when he grabbed her and threw her on his bed, telling her: “I have got you now.”

He raped her and forced his penis into her mouth before spitting into her face and stepping over her as she lay on the ground. “As if I was nothing,” said the victim, who is now a married mother.

The woman said looking back she had been traumatised all her life and in 2017 began remembering “piece by piece” what had happened. She suffered vivid flashbacks and felt sick to her stomach.

“It makes me very angry that it was covered up and nothing was done,” she told the court. “There was nothing wrong with Dan Flynn when he sexually assaulted me all those years ago.”

Flynn pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the child at his home on a date in 1979.

Mr Justice Michael White said a practical challenge in this case was balancing the circumstances of the offence, which he described as having elements of “severe brutality and unusual cruelty”, against the age and ill-health of Flynn.

“It is difficult to imagine the actual brutality involved in raping a six-year-old child,” said the judge.

He said there had to be an element of a custodial sentence despite Flynn’s age and ill-health.

Mr Justice White set a headline sentence of nine years. He then took into account mitigating factors such as Flynn’s lack of previous convictions and plea of guilty.

He imposed a sentence of six years and suspended four years due to the serious challenges for Flynn and the prison authorities in dealing with his chronic health issues while in custody.

The judge adjourned the commencement of the sentence until June 19th, next to allow the prison authorities time to assess a suitable facility for Flynn.

Mr Justice White commended the woman’s “tremendous courage” in coming forward and said the court had been shocked by the great cruelty of the offence.

Colman Cody SC, defending, said he had instructions from Flynn to offer an apology to the woman.

During the sentence hearing, Mr Justice White asked Mr Cody if his client had any explanation for the “barbaric cruelty” which accompanied the offence.

Mr Cody said there were some communication difficulties with his client but he could not offer an explanation, and accepted it aggravated the matter.