A former shop manager used promises of a job to entice a young boy into a flat where the child was then sexually assaulted by two men, a court has heard.
Jim Fitzsimons (60) abused the 12-year-old boy after he and another man, convicted sex offender Kevin Brazil, lured the child back to Brazil's flat in Dublin city.
In a victim impact report, the victim described how he went from being a happy child to one who struggled with anxiety and depression. He said he turned to drugs as a way to cope and this drug abuse led to crime and prison.
Fitzsimons, of Westbourne Park, Clondalkin, had pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting the victim on dates between May and August 2002. He was convicted by a jury on October 10th after a short trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Fitzsimons is originally from Carberry, Co Kildare, but has lived and worked in Dublin most of his adult life and was working as a shop manager in the summer of 2002.
Judge Melanie Greally noted that Brazil had lured this victim and other boys to his flat with the promise of alcohol and that Fitzsimons had also used the possibility of employment in the shop he managed as an enticement.
Both men then engaged in plying the boy with alcohol before molesting him and forcing the boy to masturbate them. Fitzsimons gave the boy cash sums of €150 and €50 on various occasions.
Judge Melanie Greally noted these were large amounts of cash for a child of that age and this, along with the other enticements, was a form of grooming.
Disclosure
In 2002, the boy told his father what had happened and they went to a local Garda station. Gardaí went to the flat and brought Brazil and Fitzsimons in for questioning but, inexplicably, the then-investigating garda did not send the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Judge Greally said this was a regrettable feature of the investigation. She said that it may be that if its prosecution had been pursued at the time, that some of the damage to the victim in the years that followed may have been lessened.
She said the victim showed great fortitude in coming forward again in 2016, engaging with gardaí in a very full and co-operative way, and going through the very difficult process of giving evidence in court.
She noted the significant emotional and psychological damage caused by being sexually abused at a delicate age.
She accepted that Fitzsimons may be less responsible than Brazil, who was more deeply involved in process of bringing the victim and other boys to this house and arranging for Fitzsimons to join in the activities.
She said she was heartened to read in the victim impact report that the conclusion of the trial and the guilty verdicts were a source of optimism for the victim's future.
She set a headline sentence of 40 months but reduced this to 30 months after taking into consideration mitigating factors, including the absence of any other convictions. She also noted Fitzsimons came from a respectable family who continued to support him.
Brazil (52), formerly of Wainsfort Manor Grove, Terenure, Dublin, was jailed last year after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault of the 12-year-old child.
Superintendent Barry Walsh told the court that when he began investigating allegations against Brazil from a different victim in 2016, he discovered the 2002 complaints. He said files on these cases should have gone to the DPP but added that he was not in a position to say why this had not happened.
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.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
