A DEAF MAN who sexually assaulted a girl after pulling her down a lane has been given a suspended sentence by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Karel Cerny (32) grabbed the girl from a Dublin street and pulled her down a lane, before being dragged off her and held for gardaí by a man who heard her screams.
Cerny, a Czech national, Melville Court, Finglas, Dublin,told gardaí he had no recollection of assaulting the then 14-year-old girl but could remember grabbing her after “something turned within me”.
He claimed he had not singled her out because of her age and said he was willing to accept her evidence and that of the witnesses who came upon the scene.
He pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the teenager on July 24th, 2006.
“Many, many sorrys. I really want to express my remorse to the girl,” Cerny told gardaí.
Judge Delahunt said the Probation Service was prepared to become actively involved with Cerny, who been assessed to be at a moderate risk of reoffending.
She imposed a four-year sentence which she suspended on strict conditions, including engaging with the Probation Service and with the Lighthouse Project, a community-based treatment programme for sex offenders.
Judge Delahunt noted that Cerny had already been added to the sex offenders register, which she said the court considered to be a penalty in itself.
Garda Loughman said the girl was “very frightened and afraid she would be killed”. She returned to her native country after the assault, where she received counselling.
However, she has since returned to Ireland and was settling back into school, although she still had some problems.