A man who raped a 16-year-old boy on a Co Waterford beach after meeting him on a dating app has been jailed for four years.
Neil Elliott (63), of Milestone Cottage, Cheekpoint, Co Waterford, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to section four oral rape of the boy, who was under the care of the State at the time, on August 8th, 2022, in Tramore, Co Waterford. Further charges of anal rape and oral rape were taken into account.
Garda Edel O’Sullivan told barrister Maddie Grant, prosecuting, that gardaí were contacted at 9.30pm on the evening in question by social care workers who were responsible for the teenager that weekend while they were at a caravan park.
They said he had left the holiday home in a distressed state and they were concerned for his wellbeing.
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Gardaí arrived 30 minutes later and after a short search of the local area, they met Elliott and the teenager walking up the beach. They identified themselves to gardaí and the teenager said he was fine, while Elliott told him they were friends and had been out walking.
The teenager was returned to the care of his social workers and immediately reported that he had engaged in oral sex with Elliott. He said he had told the accused he was 16, while Elliott later claimed he believed the teenager was 17 years old.
The teenager said he had been on a dating app and had met Elliott. They had sent photographs to each other and had been communicating for a short time. He had got a text from Elliott that day asking if they could meet up.
The teenager later said to gardaí he told Elliott “no” during the sexual interaction with him. He said he “almost passed out” during the anal rape and said he did try to tell Elliott “no” but he did not stop.
He claimed that he told Elliott he was 16 and the accused replied: “It was okay as long as you are nearly 17.”
Elliott was arrested that same evening. He provided his mobile phone number, email address and relevant passwords. He has no previous convictions.
A victim impact statement was read into the record.
The complainant said that after the incident he felt “dirty, used and violated” and described it having a physical and mental impact on him. He said he turned to drugs and drink and later was diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder.
He said he will not go anywhere on his own, adding: “I should have been in a safe place.”
Barrister Colman Cody, defending, acknowledged that there was a disparity in age between the accused and the teenager. He further acknowledged that the victim was “vulnerable in the care system” but he told the court that Elliott said he was not aware the teenager was under State care at the time.
Counsel said his client had written a letter of apology to the victim, in which he said he was sorry for putting the teenager through this and apologised for the fact the teenager “got caught up with my life at the time”.
Cody said his client has no history of violence, no convictions for sexual offences and does not have difficulties with empathy. He said he has been assessed as a “low average risk of reoffending”.
Judge Paul Burns noted that while the teenager claimed to be 18 years old to access the dating app, his bio on that app clearly stated that he was 16 years old. He said anyone accessing the app would have known the true age of the teenager.
He set a headline sentence of eight years, taking into account the fact that Elliott would have been aware of the young age of the complainant and that he subjected him to “a rough and aggressive ordeal involving both anal and oral rape”.
He imposed a sentence of five years with the final year suspended on strict conditions including that Elliott engage with the Probation Service for three years upon his release from prison. He said due to this supervision order there is no need for the imposition of additional post-release supervision.
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre’s national 24-hour helpline can be contacted at freephone 1800 77 8888
