A Dublin man who carried out “a deliberate and calculated campaign” of rape and sexual abuse of a “very vulnerable teenager” has been jailed for 12 years.
Daniel Martin (47), formerly of Old County Road, Crumlin, was convicted following a Central Criminal Court last December of 11 counts of sexual abuse, including sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, oral rape, anal rape, vaginal rape and sexual exploitation against the girl on dates between 2019 and 2020. The girl was aged between 15 and 16 years old at the time.
Martin was also convicted of one count of causing a child to watch pornography in relation to a second teenage girl, aged between 14 and 15 years old, in 2019.
At a previous hearing, Martin was assaulted in the dock in a “serious breach of security” while the prosecuting garda was giving evidence. Two men are currently before the courts in relation to that incident.
Passing sentence on Tuesday, Mr Justice Paul Burns said Martin’s offences represented “a deliberate and calculated campaign” on a “very vulnerable teenager” during which he provided the girl with drugs and alcohol. He also said “threats, degradation and humiliation all featured” in the case.
He said the offences represented “a grave breach of trust” and occurred over “a protracted period”.
He set headline sentences of 14 years for the rape, aggravated sexual assault and anal rape, with a headline sentence of 12 years for the child trafficking offence and headline sentence of 10 years for the sexual assault offences.
The judge took into account the testimonials handed in on behalf of Martin and the fact that he has made recent efforts to rehabilitate.
He sentenced Martin to concurrent terms of 13 years and suspended the final year for three years on condition that he engage with the Probation Service for those years. He didn’t impose a post release supervision order because of the conditions of the suspension.
Martin was jailed for two years for the charge of causing a child to watch pornography. This sentence is also concurrent.
Mr Justice Paul Burns said it was clear from the victim impact statement that the woman had been “significantly and fundamentally impacted” by the offences.
He said it was important for the woman to remember that “she is the victim here, it is the accused who has brought about these difficulties”.
Mr Justice Burns said he hoped with further intervention and assistance that the woman may find she may be better able to cope adding that in particular he hoped she may find herself being able to return to education.
Detective Garda Catriona O’Leary told Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, that Martin had been unanimously convicted by a jury of the offences last December.
She said the abuse began with inappropriate touching over her clothing but escalated to oral, anal and vaginal rape. It was often accompanied by threats or violence.
The abuse also occurred at a warehouse and a van in the Dublin Mountains. In one incident, he tied the girl blindfolded to a tree before sexually assaulting her.
The accused man took photographs of the girl which he said he needed to put on a website so she could carry out sexual activity for money, but this never came to pass.
Two of the girl’s aunts felt there was something unusual about the relationship with the accused and she initially denied anything had happened but then accepted there had been sexual contact.
This was reported to the authorities and the garda investigation revealed the accused man had showed pornography to another teenage girl. He had also given necklaces to both girls.
The accused man was arrested and denied there had been any wrongdoing. He asserted that the girl had told him she could “destroy him”.
Martin has a number of previous convictions including criminal damage, possession of drugs and making threats to kill or cause serious harm.
Victim's statement
In her victim impact statement, the young girl described how she had a tough childhood but was a good kid and tried her best.
She outlined how her life changed for the worse in the aftermath of these offences coming to light and she “spiralled out of control.”
She felt a lot of anger and made bad decisions, as well as putting herself in bad situations. She said the fallout from the offending had cost her dearly.
She described how court and the trial process had been very difficult for her. “Hearing the lies he told about me was horrific,” she told the court.
She said the last hearing had been very hard, and she was sorry for the disrespect shown to the court.
She felt robbed and that her life had been taken from her. “Without him I know my life would have been different,” she said.
Michael Bowman SC, defending, handed in a letter from Martin’s family and a priest outlining his personal and family circumstances.
He said his client had struggled with a drug addiction for a number of years, but subsequently became engaged in and deeply committed to community work.
He submitted his client has a work history and has a number of health issues.
The prosecution outlined that the Director of Public Prosecutions' view was that the case lay in the upper end of the more serious range, with a pre-mitigation sentence of 10 to 15 years.
Mr McGinn said the factors lifting it out of the ordinary range were the abuse of his position of trust in preying on a girl, that the offences occurred over a considerable time, that drink and drugs were used to gain the girl's trust and groom her for sexual exploitation. He said she had been subjected to degrading and inhumane treatment in some instances.
There was also an age disparity and threats made to the girl.
