A man who sexually assaulted his then-partner’s sister as the siblings slept in the same bed has been jailed for 18 months.
The 27-year-old Donegal man sexually assaulted the then 19-year-old girl as she slept in his bed alongside her older sister. He initially told gardaí it had been consensual, but the court heard he now accepts he had done wrong and the injured party had done nothing to cause what happened.
The young woman outlined how she felt she had lost the support of her family and had gone through some her darkest hours alone over the five and a half years since the offence occurred.
The accused man, who cannot be named to protect the woman’s identity, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to sexual assault of the woman at his home on June 4th 2017.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott noted delays in the case, both in coming through the courts and in a plea being offered, meant it had taken five years for the case to get to this point.
Consequences
He said a case such as this was going to have consequences within a family, which was exacerbated by the initial stance adopted by the accused which was based on lies.
Mr Justice McDermott said the repercussions could not have been unknown to the accused and caused a huge degree of harm to family relationships.
He said this had been to a degree rectified by the guilty plea in which the man publicly accepts assaulting the victim without her consent. He noted the woman hoped to rebuild family relationships.
The judge said the woman had been subjected to a serious attack while asleep in a place where she should feel safe and with people with whom she should feel safe.
He said she had shown considerable courage over the last number of years in dealing with this case and facing down the lies told about her. He said he had to factor the harm done into the sentence.
Mr Justice McDermott noted in mitigation the man’s guilty plea, lack of relevant convictions, his work record and personal circumstances. He noted the expression of regret and apology.
The judge imposed a sentence of three years imprisonment and suspended the final 18 months on strict conditions including engaging in assessment for programs in respect of his offending or alcohol abuse.
He ordered him not to contact the injured party, directly or indirectly.
Apology
During a plea in mitigation, Shane Costelloe SC, defending, said his client wished to apologise unreservedly for the sexual assault. He said the woman had done nothing wrong and his client accepts the blame was entirely his own.
He said his client had been intoxicated on the night and instructs he totally misunderstood the situation. He said his client was endeavouring to never repeat the intoxicated and disinhibited state he was in that night.
Mr Costelloe submitted the court could treat it as an “aberration” and that the man had not been in any further trouble in the six years since. He said had suffered great shame and apologises unreservedly.
At a previous hearing, Gerard Clarke SC, prosecuting, in outlining the background of the case said that the young woman was staying over at the apartment her sister shared with the accused on the night in question.
She and her sister had fallen asleep in her sister’s bed, but she awoke to find the accused man on top of her, kissing her, and her undergarments pulled down. She became aware the man’s penis was touching her vaginal area.
She woke up her sister and after ringing gardaí left the flat to meet them.
The accused man told gardaí that what happened between them had been consensual.
In her victim impact statement, the young woman said the past five and a half years since her case began had been “life changing” and said the accused had put her through hell.
She told him she had felt comfortable with him, looking at him as a part of her family and did not know how he was capable of doing what he had done to her. She described the “torture” he had put her through and described how she suffered flashbacks and nightmares.
She outlined how she attended counselling and thought she was dealing with the effects of what had happened but suffered a major breakdown when the people she thought would support her did not.
She told the court how she lost the close bond she had with other family members and felt that they did not support her as she had hoped they would, leaving her feeling “unloved and unwanted.”
She said to feel that she was not believed or supported when she came forward nearly destroyed her.
The victim said she no longer looks at herself as a victim but as a survivor who had got through some of her darkest days without support. She told the accused man the one thing he had not taken from her was her voice which she had used to bring him to justice.
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.
