A teenager who sexually assaulted two girls has been given an 18-month sentence.
The Central Criminal Court heard the two girls felt their community was poisoned against them and they were made out to be “the bad guy” after reporting being sexually assaulted by the boy. The accused was 16 at the time of the offending and the girls were 15.
The defendant, now aged 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting the girls on dates in 2023. Three further counts of sexual assault were taken into consideration. He cannot be identified by order of the court.
An investigating garda told prosecution senior counsel Michael Delaney that the offending occurred in 2023. The parties were all known to each other and lived in the same area.
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The sexual assaults were reported to gardaí and the accused was interviewed in 2024. He pleaded guilty after a jury was sworn in for his trial in January, but before evidence began. He has no previous convictions.
One girl said she believed the defendant had poisoned people against her for making the complaint. She outlined the trauma of having to attend a sexual assault treatment unit, telling the court no young girl should have to go through that examination. She said she was determined it would never happen to another girl.
She described to the court how she had prepared for the trial and her opportunity to speak the truth earlier this year when the accused unexpectedly pleaded guilty. She said she was angry this had come after three years of building a case and being called a liar.
“I was never the liar he made me out to be,” she said, “He knows what he did to me and he knows it was wrong.”
The second girl said the offending had affected so many aspects of her life. She described how she had been picked on and called a liar; she said rumours were spread and that she was made to feel like the “bad guy”.
She said she did not think the defendant should suffer forever, but he should realise the effects of his behaviour.
“This should not happen to someone else in the future,” she said.
Defence senior counsel Kevin White handed in a letter of apology from the defendant in which he accepts his behaviour was unacceptable and unwelcome and that he caused great trauma.
He said he was in the wrong and committed to ensuring it would not happen again. White said the defendant was a child who made poor decisions, did not realise the extent and impact of his behaviour, and did not have a great understanding of consent.
Passing sentence, Judge Paul Burns said the girls’ victim-impact statements set out how violated and traumatised they felt. He said given the teenager had pleaded guilty to sexual assault, it should be clear to everybody who “the bad guy” was.
He said the girls had done nothing wrong and deserved the sympathy and respect of their community.
Burns said a term of eight years’ imprisonment would be an appropriate headline sentence for an adult. He set a headline sentence of four years for this defendant, noting his age at the time of the offending.
In assessing the defendant’s moral culpability, he said at 16 years old, there was no doubt he knew that what he was doing was seriously wrong. He considered his guilty plea and written apology.
He noted that reports before the court cited the accused’s exposure to pornography and consumption of alcohol. He took into account letters from his parents and a former teacher.
The judge imposed a sentence of two years’ imprisonment and suspended the final six months for three years on conditions including that he engage with sexual offending, alcohol, drug awareness and mental health programs as deemed appropriate.
