A woman discovered her boyfriend had been sexually assaulting her while she slept after gardaí analysed his phone because she was concerned that he was going to share a video of them having sex.
The 25-year-old man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, attempted rape and recording an image of the woman without her consent on dates between September and October 2021. He has no previous convictions.
The court heard that the woman had contacted a hotline for victims of sexual violence in November 2021, after she was informed by an acquaintance that her ex-boyfriend may be sharing intimate images of her with others.
The investigating inspector told Dean Kelly SC, prosecuting, that during a follow-up meeting with the woman, she reported a previous incidence of rape, in October 2021, to the gardaí.
She said it had occurred following an incident of consensual sex between them. She said she had “gone along” with sex with her boyfriend but was not really into it and asked him to stop.
It stopped, and she got into another single bed in the room, but the accused got back into bed with her, said he was not finished yet and raped her.
The woman said the accused was “really angry because he didn’t get to finish”. He told her: “You love rape, don’t you?” she said no, but he continued, saying: “You’re into rape.”
She said she was crying and told him to stop but he wasn’t stopping. He pushed her legs apart, and she told him he was hurting her. He had her neck in his hands, and she was panicking and couldn’t breathe.
She eventually managed to get him off by getting her legs to his chest and pushing him off.
She also told gardaí that her boyfriend had previously shown her a photograph of his penis next to her face which he had taken while she was sleeping.
The woman told gardaí that she suffered from insomnia and needed to take medication to help her sleep. This meant that she slept very deeply.
She told the gardaí that she realised that the accused had taken numerous images while she was sleeping. She told him to stop and she was uncomfortable with this.
Eight videos
As part of their investigation, gardaí contacted the accused and took his phone for analysis.
It was during this analysis that they discovered eight videos taken over the course of two hours one morning in September 2021.
The videos showed the woman was clearly sleeping. She could be heard snoring, while the man attempted to have sex with her.
The videos also showed him sexually assaulting the woman while she was sleeping.
The woman was not aware of the videos nor had she known that the man had behaved in this way.
She told gardaí that during their relationship she had agreed to making videos of them having sex together but only in circumstances where her face was not visible. She never gave the man permission to share these videos with anyone else.
On Wednesday, Justice Paul McDermott imposed a six-year sentence with the final 12 months suspended on strict conditions, including that the man keep away from the victim, engage with any treatment as recommended by the Probation Service and engage with the Probation Service for three years.
He noted that the man had taken magic mushrooms, a hallucinogenic drug, on the day of the rape. He said the attempted rape was pre-meditated and planned by the accused.
“He knew she was sleeping and unlikely to wake up,” the judge said referring to the fact that the man was aware his girlfriend took medication for treatment of insomnia.
Justice McDermott also made reference to the recording of these incidences while the woman slept adding that it was “a gross violation of her privacy without her consent”.
“He weaponised the recordings when he became angry,” the judge said.
Justice McDermott also took into account a report from the Probation Service which he said concluded that the man “showed no insight into the attempted rape” but said he “clearly understood the boundaries he was breaching".
He described it as “shocking” that the man had taken the videos with “clear intention”. “He took advantage of the situation and knew he could do it without impunity”.
Justice McDermott said a headline sentence of eight years and six months was warranted having taken into account the overall nature of the offending.
He said the mitigating factors included the fact that there was never any question that man would be taking a trial date, that he cooperated with the Garda investigation and apologised to the victim.
He further acknowledged that the man had no previous convictions, had a good work record and had demonstrated a willingness to engage in any treatment programmes that were deemed suitable by the Probation Service.
Justice McDermott imposed a six-year sentence with the final year suspended on strict conditions.
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.
