The man, aged 38, who cannot be named for legal reasons, believed his brother sent an evil spirit through his daughter, who was 19 at the time, to make him rape her, the court heard.
After committing the offence, he told a psychiatrist he felt an “overwhelming sense of energy through his body”, felt he was “possessed by an evil spirit”, and was horrified by what he did. He immediately went to gardaí to report what he had done.
The man, who was living in Cork, pleaded guilty to raping his daughter at the family home on July 30, 2014. He further pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his daughter on July 29, 2014.
Sgt Kieran O’Sullivan said the man has no previous convictions and the victim did not want to make a victim impact statement.
Tom Creed, defending, said: “It is a most extraordinary case and the victim adopted a sympathetic course, notwithstanding the traumatic experience she went through.”
He said the man’s daughter wrote to gardaí stating she did not want her father to go to prison, as she “just wants it all to be over with”. He said the man has no psychiatric illnesses and denies any previous sexual fantasies.
“He told a psychiatrist he believes he was possessed by evil spirits and this is a belief shared by his wider family,” said Mr Creed.
“It was completely out of character. He had a loving relationship with his daughter and has no signs of psychiatric illness,” said Mr Creed.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said: “I’ve given up saying I have heard it all before, but this one beggars belief.”
He imposed a 10-year term, suspending four years.