A boy, whose 66-year-old father raped him nine times at their home in Waterford, has described him as Adolf Hitler.

The Central Criminal Court has heard the man who was convicted is planning to appeal.

The boy, who is now 13, was taken into care five years ago after telling his teacher he was physically assaulted.

His teacher contacted social services after he came into school in a distressed state. 

In September 2011, the boy told specialist gardaí that his father had beaten him up, thrashed him and kicked him.

The allegations of sexual abuse were made during a follow-up interview a year later. 

During that interview, the boy also told gardaí his father locked him in a wooden cage-like box he built in his shed and left him there for hours.

The boy was moved to a specialised facility in the UK because his foster mother felt she couldn’t cope. She said he was becoming too sexualised for her and was in need of psychiatric assistance.

His parents went on trial in April and their son gave his direct evidence via video link over three days. His cross-examination took five days.

The jury ultimately found his father guilty of nine counts of rape and one count of child cruelty. His mother was also convicted of child cruelty.

In a victim impact statement read out on his behalf, the boy described his father as a horrible and cruel man and said he wanted to hurt him.

He said he wanted to attach a bomb to him and detonate it.

The boy said he wanted to meet his father in the future to ask him why he took away his childhood away and forced him to leave Ireland.

He said he hoped to return one day after he has emptied all the boxes in his mind and said goodbye to the memories.

If you are affected by the issues described here, you can contact the 24-hour helpline run by the Samaritans, 116 123, or the Rape Crisis Centre, 1800 77 88 88.

Childline can be contacted by phone on 1800 666666 (24/7), by texting ‘talk’ to 50101 (from 10pm to 4am) or by live chat on Childline.ie (10am to 4pm).