Young man jailed for rape of younger cousin

This article contains references to sexual assault and rape. Reader discretion is advised.

By Eimear Dodd

A young girl who was sexually abused by her older cousin has told the Central Criminal Court that his actions will “hang over the family forever”. 

The mother of the now 14-year-old victim read the impact statement to the court today. The girl said she doesn’t understand the “full impact” of what has happened and has been told she “won’t fully understand until she is older.”

A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, one of anal rape and one of oral rape on dates between April 28, 2017 and March 27, 2018.

The defendant can’t be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, who is his cousin. She was aged between eight and nine when the offending occurred, while he was then around 13 years’ old.

In her victim impact statement, the girl said the offending has affected her parents, grandparents and the wider family, who are “devastated” and she knows they try to hide the impact from her to protect her.

The girl noted that her extended family no longer gather for birthdays or other special occasions. “I don’t think it will go back to normal soon. What [he] did will hang over the family forever,” she wrote.

She said she attended therapy, but hasn’t told her friends.

The girl said she thought of the man as a “big brother” who “did everything with us”. He is in all the photos from her childhood. She said when she looks back now, “All I see is a monster.”

“What you did to me was wrong,” she said, later adding that she would never forgive him for what he has done.

She said she hopes he understands that his actions mean the family will “never be the same” and that he never hurts anyone like this again.

A local garda told Carol Doherty BL, prosecuting, said on Wednesday that the investigation started after Tusla made a referral to gardaí.

The offending occurred at the boy’s home and at their grandparents’ house in County Dublin. It came to light in 2021, after the girl told her father she didn’t want the teenager to go on a family holiday with them as “I don’t want him to do to me what he did before.”

She was interviewed by specialist gardaí and said the first incident occurred at the boy’s home where he raped her during a sleepover.

He also raped her at their grandparents’ house. She told gardaí he raped her anally on another occasion and she told him to stop as it was sore.

The man was interviewed voluntarily at his local garda station in June 2022, and made full admissions. He told gardaí he felt “disgusted, shocked and hated himself” for his actions.

He has no previous convictions and had not come to recent garda attention.

The garda agreed with Eilis Brennan SC, defending, that her client accepted full responsibility for his actions and expressed shame, remorse and disgust when interviewed by gardaí.

It was accepted that the defendant told gardaí he was watching a lot of pornography online at the time and was accessing sites including Pornhub.

The garda agreed that the man said he had breached the girl’s trust and traumatised her through his actions. It was further accepted that he entered an early guilty plea.

Ms Brennan said her client is extremely remorseful for his actions and the hurt caused to the victim and the wider family.

She noted her client was watching pornography at the time and while this “no excuse”, she added that the court is “aware what a scourge this is for children and young teenagers”.

She noted the probation report is “favourable” but raises a concern that his limited memory about his offending may be linked to his drug use at the time or a means to shield himself from feelings of shame. However, the report notes her client takes full responsibility for his offending and has displayed victim empathy.

She said he is willing to engage with any appropriate services. A letter from his mother and other documents were handed to the court. Her client has suffered with depression and has a diagnosis of ADHD.

Ms Brennan asked the court to take into account her client’s young age at the time of the offending and that he has continued his education. She asked he is allowed to finish a college work placement and for the Probation Service to carry out a risk assessment.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the court would take into account that the man was a young teenager when the offending occurred, adding if the man had committed these offences as an adult, he would be “going straight to prison”.

Remanding the man on continuing bail, Mr Justice McDermott adjourned the case to July 1 for the Probation Service carry out a risk assessment and to allow the man to finish his college work placement.