A man who was 13 years old when he first raped his nine-year-old cousin after playing a video game which centred around picking up prostitutes has been jailed for eight years.
The now 27-year-old Cork man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the now 23-year-old woman, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court last April.
He had pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape in the summer of 2010 and the summer of 2016 in their grandmother’s home in Cork.
Victim impact statement
A local garda read the victim impact statement into the record during which the woman said she “lived every day of my life fighting a war with myself”.
She said she doubted everyone who told her that they loved her, as she believed they “had an ulterior motive” because she had “trauma caused by a member of my own family”.
“Why didn’t you protect me? Why would anyone steal my innocence and ultimately my life from me?” the woman asked before she added that he had “the audacity” to plead not guilty and “drag me through this legal process”.
She said taking the stand during the trial led to her having psychiatric issues - issues she had experienced since the age of 14.
“I am beyond proud of myself and I know I will have to work the rest of my life just to live,” the woman continued.
Impact
She said her school and relationships had been impacted, and she lost countless friends because of her self-hatred and self-destruction.
“Every day as an adult I have to console a little child inside me. I will never give up. I am strong, unlike you who took advantage of me. I will never get back the life you took from me. I will spend the rest of my life dealing with the effects of these rapes.”
“I don’t know tomorrow if I will wake up and abandon this life entirely,” the woman concluded before she added that she does know her life will now be easier knowing that she will not see the man around. She thanked the gardaí for helping her.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the victim impact statement set out in clear terms the nature and extent of the damage the woman has suffered as a result of these offences. He said the damage was “considerable and enduring.” He noted she was endeavouring to rebuild her life and wished her well into the future.
Mr Justice McDermott noted the man was still a juvenile at the time of the first offence and a young adult at the time of the second rape. He set a headline sentence of five years for the first rape and 11 years for the second.
He said the defendant had taken advantage of the girl’s young age and the second offence was committed in circumstances where he believed he could offend again with impunity and made threats to her. He noted the man has maintained he is not guilty of these offences.
Neurological diagnoses
Mr Justice McDermott outlined extensive reports on the man’s multiple neurological diagnoses and that he had been assessed as having a disability. He noted as a result of his issues, time in custody would be more difficult for him.
The judge also took into account the man’s age, maturity at the time and his lack of prior convictions.
He imposed a four-year sentence for the first rape and a concurrent eight year sentence for the second rape. He said given the man’s attitude to his conviction, there was no basis for suspending any portion. He ordered three years post release supervision.
A local garda told John Byrne SC, prosecuting, that the first incident occurred when the girl was nine years old and staying in her grandmother’s house, along with her cousin. She later told gardaí that she had been watching her cousin play Grand Theft Auto and described the teenager “picking up a prostitute” as part of the game.
She said the conversation “turned weird” and he asked her if she had had sex before. She said he pulled her up on top of him. He then raped her over the course of the next 20 minutes.
The woman later described the incident as being “all a bit blurry” but she remembered being pinned down and her cousin placing his hand over her mouth and the other hand on her shoulder as she tried to get away.
Afterwards, she locked herself in her aunt’s bedroom and noticed there was blood in her underwear. Her mother also noticed this later and asked the child’s grandmother had the girl being injured in any way during her stay.
The second incident occurred six years later when the girl was 15 years old and her cousin was 19.
He had asked her over to their grandmother’s home, along with another cousin. They took part in drinking games and afterwards the other cousin left, leaving her alone with the defendant. She said the only reason she had agreed to stay was because the other cousin had been staying, but the man ignored her.
He gave the girl more alcohol, and she got into bed to sleep. She later told gardaí “she was fit to pass out” because she was so drunk but her cousin got into the same bed, removed her bottoms and underwear, pinned her down with his forearm across her collar bone and raped her.
She recalled him laughing afterwards and said he had his hand over her mouth while he raped her. She went downstairs and didn’t return to the bedroom.
She said a few days later the man told her he “would spread shit about me” if she told anyone. She recalled taking a pregnancy test over the coming days out of fear she could be pregnant.
Complaint
She later made a statement of complaint and her cousin was arrested in April 2017. Over the course of three interviews with gardaí, he denied all the allegations and suggested his cousin was “being a drama queen”.
He claimed that he had been injured in a horse-riding accident in the days prior to the second rape, and “did not have the capacity” to have sex.
He also said that he had been on medication at the time of the first incident, which had delayed the onset of puberty, so he also would not have been able to have sex on that occasion.
Mr Byrne told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions concluded that had the accused been an adult in the first incident of rape, the offence would have warranted a headline sentence of 10 to 15 years.
The garda agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that his client has no previous convictions and has complied with the bail conditions set.
She further accepted that he has a partner for the last six years.
Mr Clarke said that his client had “just passed the threshold into adulthood” at the time of the second rape and said he may not have had the maturity level of other 19 year olds.
He said he was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum disorder from the age of 12, the year prior to the first rape.
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.
