The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has welcomed the decision of Justice Paul Carney to sentence a man who raped two young children to life in prison.

The 30-year-old man was sentenced to two life sentences, to run concurrently, after pleading guilty to the horrific crime. He had lured the two girls, aged just six and nine, away from a birthday party they were attending, to a flat in Athlone.

It was here that he violently raped the children a number of times. He also threatened to cut their throats and the throats of their parents if they did not obey him.

After leaving the girls alone in the room, they managed to escape out a window, run back to the party and raise the alarm. The parents of the girls were already looking for them having realised that they were missing.

The man was subsequently spotted by one of the child's parents and was detained by people at the scene until Gardai arrived.

Both girls were treated at a sexual assault treatment unit (SATU) for their injuries.

The court was told that the man had admitted to the rapes during the fifth interview after his arrest. He has a number of previous convictions for crimes such as burglary and criminal damage, but until now, had no convictions for sexual offences.

Victim impact statements read out in the court described how the two little girls' lives had been ‘touched by evil' and both are still suffering the effects of the rapes today. The children do not feel safe anymore, do not want to be left alone and suffer with anxiety, panic attacks and sleep problems.

While acknowledging that the man had a seriously dysfunctional background, Mr Justice Carney insisted that this afforded little, if any, mitigation. He also insisted that the man's claims that he was drunk and had taken Valium offered no defence.

Responding to the sentence, DRCC chief executive, Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, said that it ‘reflects the seriousness and the awfulness of the crimes and it is appropriate that there were no mitigating circumstances taken into consideration in his sentence'.

She described the two girls as ‘so brave' for telling their parents what had happened and said it was important that they were believed.

"For far too long we have been hearing the terrible stories from adults who had experienced similar heinous crimes that had been committed against them in the past, but were either too afraid to tell at the time, or told and were not believed. This does not make it any easier for these children or their parents but it does mean that they will get the support they need to heal now," she said.