A young man who sexually assaulted two young girls when he was aged 12 and 14 years old has been jailed for 18 months.
The now 21-year-old Cork man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to sexual assault against two girls on dates in 2015 and 2017. He has no previous convictions and has not come to any further Garda attention.
The accused man was 12 when he sexually assaulted the first girl, who was 9 years old at the time, on a date in 2015. He was between 14 and 15 when he sexually assaulted the second victim, who was aged between 13 and 14, on a date in 2017.
Passing sentence on Monday, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said the case involved two separate incidents and complainants two years apart. She noted he was older than both girls.
She said the offending has clearly had a significant effect on both girls' mental health. She said they had displayed great courage in coming forward.
The judge noted a probation report confirmed he was remorseful, has taken responsibility and has awareness of the effect on the girls. He has no addiction issues and has a supportive family.
She set headline sentences totalling seven years, before noting that the accused was a child at the time of the offending which entitled him to significant mitigation.
Mr Justice Creedon said it was serious that he had gone on to offend a second time and that the young woman in that case had declined sex, and he ignored what she said. She said this warranted a custodial element to sentencing.
She imposed concurrent sentences totalling two years and suspended the final six months on strict conditions. She ordered that he be registered as a sex offender for a period of two years.
An investigating garda told Tom Creed SC, prosecuting, that the offences came to light in 2020 when the first girl made a disclosure in school that she had been sexually assaulted by the accused in a corn field when she was nine years old. She said the second girl was in their company.
She said the sexual assault involved digital anal penetration.
The school contacted Tusla and gardaí interviewed the accused boy. He told them it had been consensual but accepted what he did was wrong.
The second girl was approached regarding the incident and revealed she had also been sexually assaulted by the accused on a later occasion. She said he had asked her to have sex, but she declined, and he ripped her pants before putting his fingers inside her.
The accused was arrested again and told gardaí he knew she had not been consenting. He said he thought he had some sort of sex addiction and told gardaí: “I was thinking with my dick and not my brain.”
Like he didn’t even care what he did to me
In her victim impact statement, the first girl said the sexual assault at nine years old had a massive effect on her. She said she did not truly understand what had happened and the idea she might be pregnant had terrified her.
She said she felt she was forced to stop being a child, and outlined the continuing adverse effects the assault has had on her in terms of her mental health and anxiety.
She said this part of her life would always be with her, and she would never forget it.
In her victim impact statement, the second girl said she had known the accused since she was very young, he had been in and out of her home and she had no reason not to trust him.
She said after the sexual assault, the accused had still been in and out of her home as if nothing happened, “like he didn’t even care what he did to me,” she said.
She said she felt sad all the time, had huge trust issues, and it had taken a lot to report it. She said she would never understand why he had done it to her, but she had been relieved when he pleaded guilty. She thanked her family and the gardaí for their support.
Jane Hyland SC, defending, asked the court to take into account that the accused had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had never tried to say the offending had not occurred.
Counsel handed reports into the court and outlined the accused man’s cognitive difficulties described in a psychiatric report. He found school challenging but has a stable employment record.
She said he is very remorseful and is assessed as at low risk of reoffending.
Ms Hyland said her client had been consuming pornography from a young age. She said his family are shocked at the offending but remain supportive of him.
She asked the court to treat him as the child he was at the time of the offending and take into account his efforts to try and take responsibility for his actions.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
