A Nigerian healthcare assistant has been jailed for raping a 73-year-old pensioner in her nursing home bed during lockdown at a Co Dublin facility.
Emmanuel Adeniji who committed the crime in the early hours of April 3, 2020, has been jailed for 11 years.
He had denied rape but later pleaded guilty after his DNA matched a sample from the woman with Alzheimer’s. The victim, who was attacked at 3am, remains terrified the predator will return to her room.
The judge described his crime as “an egregious breach of trust by a qualified and experienced healthcare worker”. Adeniji is a trained healthcare professional who has worked in healthcare for 15 years.
He was recorded on CCTV going in and coming out of the woman’s room at the nursing home. She was found later that morning in a distressed state by a staff member doing her rounds.
The victim’s family told the court Adeniji had “single-handedly destroyed our mam’s life”.
Gardaí (Irish police) were called and the woman was able to make a statement about the rape.
She told officers she was in her room all the time as residents were “locked in because of the virus”.
Adeniji was arrested 11 days later.
The victim’s daughter told the Central Criminal Court that her family have been unable to hug her mother to comfort her since the attack.
“We always said we will dread the day she loses her memory, but now one day we hope she wakes up and doesn’t remember,” she added.
The judge said the effect of the rape on the victim had been “devastating” with the woman experiencing feelings of “depression, suicidal thoughts, nightmares and a lack of safety”.
He imposed an 11-year prison sentence on Adjeniji, with the final year suspended.
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