Man convicted of rape granted anonymity due to alleged delay in charging him
Declan Brennan
A court has ordered that a man who raped his then-girlfriend when they were both teenagers cannot be named because of an alleged delay in charging him.
The then 16-year-old raped the then 15-year-old victim while they were both attending an outdoor party in a rural location in mid-2022.
The defendant, now 20, continues to deny the offence and maintains his position that the sexual activity was consensual, the Central Criminal Court heard.
After imposing a custodial sentence of three and a half years with the final year suspended for two years, Justice Eileen Creedon said the court would accede to a defence application to prevent publication of any details that might tend to identify the defendant.
Defending counsel, Kathleen Leader, had earlier submitted that there was “culpable delay” on the part of the prosecuting authorities. She said that if her client had been charged as a child, he would be entitled to lifelong anonymity under section 93 of the Children Act 2001.
Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Carol Doherty, argued that there was no delay in prosecuting the case.
The case went to trial at the Central Criminal Court last January, and the defendant pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault. A jury convicted him of rape but acquitted him of the other offence.
Summarising the evidence on Friday, Justice Creedon said that the man was visibly intoxicated on the night when the woman took him aside to speak to him.
There was consensual kissing, but the defendant then pushed the girl to the ground with force and covered her mouth while raping her.
She said the injured party repeatedly told him she did not consent to this activity. She was visibly distressed and crying when she was seen being dragged by the defendant to the toilet.
After the incident, there were text messages exchanged in which the defendant told the girl he was “sorry”. He later told friends that she was making the allegations up.
After his arrest, he denied to gardaí that he had ever apologised. When shown the text message apology, he told gardaí that he was saying “whatever the victim wanted him to say” and that they were untrue statements and not confessions.
Judge Creedon said this defendant comes from a stable family environment, was generally co-operative with gardaí during the investigation, has no previous convictions and has not come to the attention of gardaí since.
The judge said this defendant had a complete disregard for the injured party's lack of consent. She set a headline sentence of four and a half years before reducing it to take account of the mitigating factors.
Judge Creedon placed him under the supervision of the Probation Service for two years post-release supervision. Finally, she placed the defendant on the sex offenders register for two years post-release.
Judge Creedon commended the injured party on the manner in which she gave evidence during the trial and wished her well for the future.
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.
