A teenage boy who raped his young cousin has received a fully suspended sentence.
The now 17-year-old defendant pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to sexually assaulting and raping his cousin on dates between December 2017 and May 2019. He was aged 13 and 14 when he carried out the attacks at his home in Co Dublin and at her family home in another county.
He also pleaded guilty to causing a child to watch sexual activity.
Lawyers for the accused told the court that a Probation Services assessment identified that the boy's pathway to offending was the viewing of adult pornography on his mobile phone at an early age.
Brendan Grehan SC, defending, said there is “an epidemic in its own right of young boys accessing pornography and then acting it out in inappropriate ways”.
Following a sentencing hearing last year, Justice Michael White indicated a four-year period of detention which he deferred for one year on conditions including that the boy complete the sex offender treatment programme and have no contact with the victim or her family.
In deferring an order for detention, Mr Justice White adjourned the case to today and ordered that the boy be placed under the supervision of a probation and welfare officer. Mr Justice White has since retired from the bench, the court heard.
Decision
Passing sentence on Tuesday, Justice Paul McDermott said he had to decide whether to impose the sentence of four years detention, partially suspend it, entirely suspend it or deal with the case in another way.
Mr Justice McDermott said a reason for applying a sentence is to punish what happened. He noted it was said previously that if the boy was an adult, the offences would undoubtedly result in a sentence of imprisonment “probably much longer” than four years.
The judge said a report from the Probation Service was “very positive” and concluded the boy had complied with everything he had been asked to do. He said it was important from his perspective that the boy had engaged with the process “in a meaningful way”.
He said the Probation Service considers the boy a candidate for future supervision, adding that periods of supervision can be burdensome on people, but said it is about “facing up to things”.
Mr Justice McDermott said he was going to suspend the four-year detention order in full for a period of three years. He said this was on conditions including that the boy continue to engage with the Probation Service and not have any contact with the victim or her family.
He told the boy it is “terribly important” he keeps going in the same direction and said he did not want to see the boy coming back before the court.
'Someone she loved and trusted'
At the previous sentencing hearing, Mr Justice White said that the victim, who was aged between eight and nine when her teenage cousin raped her, was an exceptional young child.
“She is the person who has really suffered and that should never be forgotten. She has to try and recover from this ordeal when her bodily integrity and innocence was needlessly taken away from her for such selfish reasons by someone she loved and trusted.”
“I hope that she can heal and I wish her the very best,” Mr Justice White said.
In his victim impact report, the victim's father said he wished to thank Gardaí and the CARI foundation for their support and help. He said because of the “chronic lack of government funding” CARI has a long waiting list and it was 15 months before his daughter could get an appointment.
The victim's father said it is “a sorry reflection of modern Ireland” that the Government cannot give more support to such organisations.
He said in May 2019 he learned “an evil monster” had groomed his little girl and made her perform unspeakable vile acts against her will. He said he and his wife now realised the reason for the erosion they had already observed in their daughter's sense of fun and confidence.
The victim's father said during a medical examination at a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit his daughter trembled with fear, adding she has suffered “blind panic attacks filled with terror”.
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.
