A man who sexually assaulted his partner's little brother and went on to intimidate him and his relatives, creating “bad blood” in the family, has been jailed for four years.
The 29-year-old Dublin man is already serving a two and a half year sentence for intimidating witnesses in the sexual assault case - including the victim and his father-in-law - by threatening to murder them.
The man pleaded guilty in the Central Criminal Court to one count of sexually assaulting his brother-in-law in his home on a date between October 2013 and August 2015, when the boy was aged between seven and 10 years old. The man can't be named to protect the anonymity of the victim.
The court heard the man was initially charged with rape, but he entered the guilty plea to sexual assault on the first day of his trial in November 2022.
The plea was entered on the basis that he sexually assaulted the boy up to the point of but not including penetration, Garnet Orange SC, prosecuting, told the court.
The court heard the plea was acceptable to the DPP as the complainant in the case had used “imprecise” language when describing the allegations to gardaí.
He told gardaí he was playing a video game in the man's house when he held a cloth over his mouth, bent him over and starting “riding” him.
The assault ended when the man's wife – the boy's older sister – walked into the room.
The case was delayed for some time after the man unsuccessfully tried to change his guilty plea.
Sentencing him on Monday, Mr Justice Michael MacGrath said the man abused the boy at a time when he was “of tender years”.
He said the assault was a serious breach of trust in circumstances where the man was well known to the victim, considerably older, was babysitting him at the time and had gained his trust as a member of his extended family.
He said the man has not apologised or shown any remorse for his actions, and that his victim continues to suffer “hurt, harm and fear” as a consequence of the assault.
He noted the man's previous convictions for intimidating witnesses in the case were particularly pertinent when sentencing him.
He said the man came from a family background of “conflict rather than comfort” as a result of his father's drug addiction. He handed down a sentence of four and a half years and suspended the final six months on a number of conditions.
He backdated the sentence to December 18th last year – the date the court refused the man's application to change his guilty plea. He ordered the man to have no contact with his victim – either directly or indirectly – indefinitely.
Mr Justice MacGrath offered his best wishes to the victim, who was in court for the sentencing.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard the man threatened to murder the complainant and the complainant's father in a series of Whatsapp notes to his wife, from whom he was estranged at the time.
He also threatened to throw acid in his sister-in-law's face and leave her looking like “Freddy Krueger”, a sentence hearing was told last year.
The man has since reconciled with his wife, the court heard. They have a number of children together.
In the sexual assault case before the Central Criminal Court, a local detective garda told the court that the case first came to light when the man phoned his father-in-law in January 2021 and told him he had done something “terrible”.
He then confessed to his father-in-law that he had abused this man's son – now a teenager – a number of years ago. The father-in-law asked the man if he was planning on killing himself and when the man agreed, he told him “good luck to you”.
The teenager was then interviewed by gardaí.
In a victim impact statement read out on his behalf in court, the boy said the abuse left him “upset, scared and angry”. He said he no longer speaks to his sister as a result.
The court heard the man has 15 previous convictions, including theft, arson and threats to kill.
Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, said the offending only came to light as a result of the man disclosing it to his father-in-law. He said the man had a traumatic childhood and has serious mental health issues, including a history of suicide attempts.
He said the offending had caused “bad blood between the families”. He urged Mr Justice MacGrath not to extend the man's period in custody.
The court heard the man's wife and mother were in court to support him.
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.
