A judge at a sentencing hearing of a 26-year-old man who pleaded guilty to raping his cousin has warned that early consumption of pornography led the accused to view his young relative as the “human equivalent of a blow up sex doll.”
At a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said that parents must be cognisant of the fact that pornography is available “at the click of a computer key” or a “phone tap”.
Ms Justice Ring said that parents and guardians shouldn’t “turn a blind eye to the potential that they could turn up in a court with a son or daughter who has done the unthinkable.”
Ms Justice Ring had been informed that the accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was addicted to pornography as a young boy. The man had pleaded guilty to raping and sexually assaulting his younger cousin for a four year period from 2014 to 2018.
The girl was just six years old when the abuse started. The accused was aged from 15 to 19 when the offending behaviour took place.
Ms Justice Ring said that man “destroyed the innocence” of the girl who had shown immense “courage and resilience” in reporting the matter when she was eleven.
She said that young men must realise that their younger relatives are not “sex toys there for their experimenting as a result of what they have seen on the screen.”
“These are living, developing human beings not a plaything for their personal sexual satisfaction.”
The now 16 year old victim in the case previously read her victim impact statement in to evidence. She said that her life was “ruined before it had started.”
The girl said that she suffered from nightmares and that the accused man “traumatised” her.
The girl said she often reflects on whether she made the right choice at 11 in disclosing what occurred.
However, she stressed that the process had to happen as “ six-year-old me deserves justice”.
The incidents occurred when the teenage boy occasionally babysat his cousin whilst her mother was running errands. She estimated the sexual assaults took place around 50 times both at her home and the home of the accused.
The man pleaded guilty to three counts of oral rape, two of anal rape and five counts of sexual assault at locations in Co Cork.
The court heard the the accused, who is a tradesman, has no previous convictions. The man has apologised for his actions.
The court was previously told by the defence legal team that the man started to watch pornography at the age of 11. Having consumed a “large amount” of pornography he developed a “warped view of sexuality” while his cousin “had the misfortune to come into his path at that point.”
Ms Justice Ring noted that the man had an early introduction to pornography on the family computer and then started to access it when he got his own mobile phone. She said that he hailed from a dyfunctional family background.
She praised the victim in the case whom she said had a bright future ahead of her. Noting the guilty plea and the remorse in the case Ms Justice Ring jailed the man for four and a half years suspending the final year of the sentence.
The accused must comply with all the directions of the Probation and Welfare Service upon his release from prison. He also cannot have any contact, direct or indirect, with his young cousin whe he is released from prison.
