A woman who was sexually assaulted from the age of seven by her older cousin has revealed her horror at learning her sister had also been horrifically abused 15 years later. 

Sophie, 26, from County Meath, Ireland, was sexually abused by her older cousin David Hamilton, 33, starting when she, was seven and he was 14, between the years of 2005 and 2008.

Her older sister, who wishes not to be named, was a victim of rape, oral rape, and sexual assault from the age of ten from 2004 by David. David’s older brother, Jonathan, then 14, also raped her after David told him to ‘have a go’ and sexually assaulted her on one occasion in 2005.

David, who pleaded guilty to rape, oral rape, and sexual assault, was given a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, with the last 12 months suspended, on Monday. Jonathan, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of rape and sexual assault of Sophie’s older sister and was given a three-year sentence with the final six months suspended.

PTSD and anxiety-stricken Sophie has told Femail of her intense feeling of disappointment over what she considers lenient sentences for the men who ruined their lives.

‘I feel like David has been given an incredibly lenient sentence’, she said, continuing, ‘We carry life sentences, both me and my [older] sister, because of his actions, and I just believe that the precedent needs to be set.

‘New laws are needed in Ireland to ensure that serious and heinous crimes like this are adequately punished.’

Sophie, who, together with her older sister, plans to appeal the court’s decision, further claimed members of her family ‘ostracised’ them after they came forward about the abuse – despite both brothers pleading guilty to what they had done.

Sophie (pictured), 25, from County Meath, Ireland, has revealed her experience of sexual abuse from the age of seven at the hands of her older cousin

Sophie said she first confided in her older sister and then her mother about the abuses she was facing several years ago, but she only came forward to report the abuse in 2019. 

‘In 2008, I disclosed to my older sister that I was sexually assaulted by my older cousin David, and my sister encouraged me to tell my mum.

‘So, the two of us sat down and told my mum together. My mum, at that point, promised me that she would speak to him, that she would sort it, that it would never be brought up again, and that I had nothing to worry about.’

Sophie explained: ‘My [older] sister also had been abused by him, but she didn’t disclose it to me at that time.

‘She basically said in later years when we discussed this, ‘I didn’t feel like I could come forward right then and there’.’ 

But at the time, Sophie was under the impression that her mother would handle the incident.

Sophie, pictured with David (right) and Jonathan (left), has branded her abuser’s sentence ‘incredibly lenient’

David (pictured) was given a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, with the last 12 months suspended

Sophie, who now works in childcare, has opened up about her horrific experience now her cousins have been jailed

Recalling the situation, Sophie said: ‘I just went on with my life. I believed in my head that he had been spoken to, so I just got on with it.’

Things took a turn in December 2019 when Sophie, aged 21, moved out of her mother’s home to live with her father, who later encouraged her to make a statement.

Sophie’s decision to go to the police the following year encouraged her older sister, then 26, to confide in her that she had also faced sexual abuse at the hands of a family member.

She said: ‘I had moved out of our mum’s house, and I moved into my dad’s house, and in 2020, I disclosed it to my dad, and he encouraged me to make a statement to the garda about what had happened.’

‘So, I told them that my sister had experienced abuse as well, I wasn’t sure at that point what the level of it was, but within two to three weeks, by the April of 2020, my sister made her statement over the course of seven days, hers was really lengthy.’

‘Then the case developed, and it was taken a lot more seriously. At first it was just my word but then it was the two of us, and hers wasn’t just sexual assault, it was rape as well.’

Police later arrested David and Jonathan, who admitted to instances of sexual assault.

‘David was even able to add to my sister’s statement about further instances of rape that he could recall, which we had completely etched out of our minds; I think your brain just tries to protect you.

Sophie’s father encouraged her to make a statement to the police after he learned of the abuses 

Sophie (pictured during her childhood) is no longer in contact with the maternal side of her family

She added: ‘That side of the family has completely ostracised us, we’ve no contact with any of our maternal family at all.’

Sophie saw her cousins in court in January, approximately five years after she made her first statement, which was an emotionally strenuous experience.

An investigating garda told the prosecution that before David’s first offence, when he was 12 and his victim 10, there were instances of inappropriate behaviour while playing, the Journal reported.

The garda said the older sister recalled a rape around that time and said she was raped often by David from then onwards, that he forced her to perform oral sex, and that he raped her on holiday.

Sophie was sexually abused by David from the age of seven when he was 14, between the years of 2005 and 2008.

The court charged Jonathan with one rape and one sexual assault, which took place when he was 14 and involved one child.

After undergoing significant trauma in a lengthy and exhausting court battle, Sophie hoped she and her older sister would achieve justice at the very least – but as the brothers’ sentences were announced on Monday, they were devastated. 

David’s seven-and-a-half-year sentence and Jonathan’s three-year sentence are insufficient for Sophie, who says she and her older sister are serving life sentences for what they endured.

Sophie visits a private therapist on a weekly basis, but is struggling to keep up with the costs on her salary

‘I think the sentences handed on Monday were incredibly lenient, particularly in the case of David, he raped my sister and abused me, it was almost daily for almost ten years.’

Sophie’s relatives initially received double their sentences, but because they were underage when the offences took place, the time was cut.

‘The lads got 50 per cent of their sentence taken off them straight away because, in the eyes of the law, they were minors at the time,’ Sophie said.

‘Jonathan was 17 by the time it all finished, and a 17-year-old knows right from wrong. You can’t convince me that he didn’t know that this wasn’t ok.’

While David and Jonathan will be out of prison in under a decade, Sophie said she will live with the consequences of their actions forever.

She said: ‘We’re both attending therapy weekly, we both have PTSD, I wake up screaming in the middle of the night with nightmares, I have bad anxiety, I bite my nails and my skin, I make my hands bleed.

‘I don’t go out late at night when it’s dark, I don’t go anywhere alone, I don’t drink alcohol because I know that I have to keep my wits about me at all times, I don’t feel safe anywhere that’s not my home to be honest.’

She added: ‘It’s never going to go away and how lenient the sentences are is a complete slap in the face.’

The 25-year-old, who works in childcare, is now in a loving relationship with her boyfriend (pictured)

After feeling ‘completely deflated’ when the judge read out the sentences on Monday, Sophie was encouraged to share her story on TikTok in the hopes of resonating with other victims.

‘The TikTok was posted and within nine hours it had over one million views and 99 per cent of the comments on it are positive,’ she said.

Hearing other people’s horrified thoughts on her experiences, and with her boyfriend’s love and support, Sophie settled on pushing for an appeal.

She and her older sister have since written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) explaining why they believe an appeal is necessary.

Sophie has also set up a petition regarding her relative’s sentences and a GoFundMe to help provide for their therapy. ‘I didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea and think that money was a motive, it’s absolutely not,’ she said.

‘The job I do is not enough to put food on the table, pay our bills, and go through private therapy every week’.

Sophie, who works in childcare, visits a private therapist due to the long waitlists elsewhere when she initially sought help five years ago, ‘I just didn’t have that long, I needed to speak to someone almost immediately,’ she said.

‘I had hoped that the sentence on Monday would have allowed me to move on with my life now, and that would have been a door kind of shut, and unfortunately, it’s not the case because we’re disappointed with the turn that it took.’

Sophie’s GoFundMe page can be found here. 

Sophie’s petition to change David and Jonathan’s sentences can be found here.