Man who groomed and abused teenage girl jailed for seven years

By Isabel Hayes and Declan Brennan

A man who admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing his partner's teenage niece while she lived with them has been jailed for seven years.

The 30-year-old Carlow man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of sexual assault and one count of orally raping the child, who was aged between 13 and 14, in the home they were both living in on dates between December 2022 and January 2023.

Three further counts of sexual assault were taken into consideration on a full facts basis, the court heard.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, first sexually assaulted her under the guise of looking after her when she had Covid, a local sergeant garda told prosecuting barrister Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing.

The abuse started with inappropriate touching and digital penetration, including in a car in the presence of her aunt and grandmother on one occasion. His partner was heavily pregnant at the time of the abuse.

It progressed to the man performing oral sex on the girl after “pestering” her while they were walking the family dog, the court heard. The girl had her period at the time and felt sick when the man tried to kiss her afterwards. He orally raped her on the same occasion.

The defendant sent the victim text messages, and in one of these, he wrote: “I like what we have, it’s weird...I shouldn’t really”. The abuse ended when the girl confided in her mother.

Reading her victim impact statement, the girl told the court that she was 13 when the defendant started “grooming” her.

She said she constantly has flashbacks to the assaults, which have changed her perspective on relationships.

“I was an innocent 13-year-old child. I was happy...I hope one day you’ll realise what you did to me was sick.”

“Real men don’t take advantage of 13-year-old girls, real men don’t rape children. You have ruined my life forever,” she said. She said she has struggled with anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD.

In his plea of mitigation, Kevin White, the defence barrister, said his client grew up with addiction issues and violence in the family home and began using drugs himself as a young teenager, including cocaine and amphetamines.

A Probation Service assessment described him as a “very damaged and complex individual”.

The report noted that he admitted to the Probation Officer that “he did in fact groom (the victim)” and that “he knew it was a risk, but he couldn't stop it”.

He admitted that “he had taken advantage of her vulnerability and breached her trust”, and he didn’t speak negatively about the victim at all during the assessment. The report stated that he had a good level of insight into his offending and its long-term impact on others.

In a letter to the court, he told the victim that “he hopes his guilty plea can avoid any further trauma to her” and said he was ashamed of himself.

“I was an adult encouraging a sexually inexperienced teenager for my own sexual gratification,” he said. He said that he never intended to hurt her, but knows that he did, and he regrets his actions.

The defendant has been serving a prison sentence since November, when he was sentenced for assault and threats to kill relating to a female relative. He also has convictions for violent disorder and public order offences

Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Paul McDermott said there was evidence that this defendant groomed the child and he knew what he was doing was completely wrong.

He said the girl had shown “exemplary courage” in coming forward, and he noted the very impressive way that she has dealt with the case.

Speaking directly to the injured party, Judge McDermott said: “You have a very full and positive life ahead of you, and I wish you the very best of luck in the future.”

The judge said the man had committed very serious offences against a young, vulnerable girl.

“I have little doubt that he knew what he was doing was wrong,” he said, adding some aspects of the offending were “brazen”, occurring as they did in proximity to others.

The judge took several mitigating factors into account when sentencing the man, including his guilty pleas, his remorse, which the Probation Service has described as genuine, and the fact that he has addressed his addiction issues and has engaged in a program.

He sentenced the man to eight years and three months for the sexual assault and seven years for the oral rape, both to run concurrently. He suspended the final 15 months of the eight-year and three-month sentence for two years, and he placed the man under the supervision of the Probation Service for two years.

The judge said the man must follow all directions deemed necessary by the Probation Service and ordered him to have no direct or indirect contact by any means, including social media, with the injured party.

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.