Child psychiatrist who worked for CAMHS jailed for grooming and sexually abusing a teenage girl

By Eimear Dodd

A child psychiatrist who groomed and sexually abused a teenage girl, leaving her with “painful and grave trauma”, has been jailed for eight and a half years.

Amirul Arif Bin Mohd Yunos (38) with an address in Hollystown, Dublin 15, was working as a child psychiatrist in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) centre in Clonskeagh, Co. Dublin at the time of his offending in 2023, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

The victim was not formally his patient.

Yunos was known to her parents, who had asked him to engage with their daughter who was experiencing mental health difficulties on an ad-hoc basis.

She was 15 when most of the incidents occurred between May and June 2023 and 16 when the final incident occurred in September 2023.

Yunos pleaded guilty to six counts of engaging in a sexual act with a child under 17, one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one of meeting a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

He has no previous convictions and has been in custody in relation to this offending for the last 14 months.

The court heard that the victim and her parents want Yunos to be named, but wish to maintain their anonymity.

The now 17-year-old is experiencing significant and ongoing mental distress, the court was told.

The abuse started with inappropriate touching, before escalating to include oral sex and digital and penile penetration of her vagina and anus.

The offences took place at a number of locations including a car, his home, her home and his workplace.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecuting counsel, Derek Cooney BL, the girl said the abuse has left her with “painful and grave trauma”.

She said she blamed herself, felt she “induced” the abuse and “deserved it”.

“He made me believe the hugs I needed during a tough time led to sexual abuse,” she said, later adding that she felt she’d made a “good man” sexually abuse her.

She said she wanted to tell his wife, but he told her not to.

She said she will “forever carry doubt towards the intentions of people who want to help me”.

She said the man “took something from me that will never return” and she now fears men and living.  She said her schoolwork has suffered and she has “lost a chunk” of her young life which can never be returned.

The girl said the abuse has had an “agonising” impact on her emotionally and psychologically.

She said her 15-year-old self “never wanted this”.

“She wanted to get better. She asked for that help. In hindsight, that 15-year-old got handed a lifelong sentence of unwanted trauma.”

Imposing sentence today, Judge Orla Crowe said this was a “deeply serious matter”.

She noted that the victim was “not a patient per se” of Yunos’s, rather her parents had asked him for help.

The judge noted that Yunos initially engaged in therapy sessions with the girl at her home, but over time the nature of these sessions changed.

The judge said the victim impact statement highlighted the “very grave” and ongoing effects on the girl.

She said these effects “should have been apparent to this offender, given his professional insight”.

The judge said Yunos had breached the trust of the girl “who was groomed by him, then abused” and the trust of her parents, which was an aggravating factor.

She said there were other issues in relation to Yunos’s “professional standing, insight and training”.

“He had qualified in this country and had been training in the area of psychology. He would have and ought to have been better placed than most,” the judge said, adding that Yunos would have been expected to have a “greater insight” into the potential for trauma to be caused.

“And there was trauma caused to this complainant,” Judge Crowe said.

She said the aggravating factors also included the grooming behaviour, his professional and social standing, the impact on the victim and the escalating nature of the offending.

“This is offending that simply has to be marked with imposition of a significant custodial sentence,” Judge Crowe said, setting a headline sentence of 12 years.

She noted that the mitigation included an early guilty plea, lack of previous convictions, and his expressions of remorse.

Judge Crowe said the court had reviewed testimonials, a letter of apology from Yunos and a psychological report submitted to the court on behalf of Yunos.

She noted the psychological report stated he had a “promising career” but his offending will prevent him from working in this field in Ireland in the future.

The judge said the court was “struck” by a section of the psychological report which noted that Yunos would have been expected to have a greater insight into the damage this offending could cause due to his expertise.

The judge said Yunos is “very fortunate his community and wife have stood by him”, referring to the testimonials submitted to the court.

She imposed a sentence of eight years and six months, backdated to when he went into custody.

Addressing the girl’s parents who were present in court, Judge Crowe extended the court’s best wishes to them for her future.

“There is no wrongdoing on her part in relation to the matter,” she added.

At an earlier hearing, the court heard Yunos came to Ireland in 2006 from Malaysia and studied medicine here.

After he qualified in 2013, he worked at a number of hospitals including Tralee and Cork before training in psychiatry.

The investigating garda told the court the girl is currently undergoing in-patient psychiatric treatment and is trying to keep up with her education, but has missed a lot of school.

The offending came to light in September 2023 after the then 16-year-old girl was brought to hospital by a friend for another matter.

It became apparent to staff that the girl was concerned she might be pregnant, having been the victim of sexual abuse.

The girl’s parents had asked Yunos to help her when she was 14 as she was experiencing mental health difficulties.

He initially met her at her home for therapy sessions, with her parents’ consent.

The girl told gardai Yunos said he had to meet her regularly as she was a “broken jigsaw” that he could mend, once he figured out which pieces were damaged.

They met most days and the girl placed her full trust in him, the court heard.

Each of their sessions ended with Yunos giving the girl a hug.

He also bought her expensive gifts and took her out for food.

Her parents asked Yunos to stop doing this and he agreed, but continued to meet the girl.

At some point, she started to lie to her parents about meeting Yunos, telling them she was going to an after-school club.

The relationship between Yunos and the girl escalated over the two-year period, becoming sexual for the first time in May 2023, when she was 15.

One incident took place at Yunos’s workplace in May 2023, when the girl visited him there.

The court heard there had been discussions of a sexual nature beforehand, with Yunos telling the girl “they were going to have a biology practical as the theory was over”.

He got the girl to sit on his lap, then touched her inappropriately.

The court heard CCTV was obtained showing the girl travelling to and from Yunos’s workplace, along with text messages in which he told her to take a certain route to the building so she wouldn’t be seen.

The final incident occurred in September 2023. The girl met the man at his workplace.

He asked her to bring a blindfold and placed something under the door to prevent sounds being heard outside the room.

He removed the girl’s clothes and placed the blindfold on her, telling her it would heighten her other senses.

He then sexually abused her during which he put his hand over her mouth and nose and his other hand around her neck.

The girl told gardai that Yunos said he liked causing pain to her as it made him feel good and that he liked the idea of dominating a young, blossoming girl.

The girl was very sore afterwards and contacted a friend to tell them what happened.

After the abuse came to light, Yunos went to see the girl’s parents and made admissions.

During a voluntary interview with gardai, he said he didn’t consider it to be assault as it was consensual.

He said he was helping the girl with her mental health issues and they grew closer, starting to talk about other issues before their relationship became sexual.

He made some admissions, but denied penile penetration.

He was interviewed again following his arrest, but nothing of evidential value was obtained.

Yunos applied for bail after he was charged, but withdrew his application and has been in custody for the past 14 months.

In separate court proceedings, Yunos has agreed not to practice medicine.

The garda accepted the defence’s suggestion that the Medical Council intends to apply to have him struck off the register.

Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, outlined his client’s background and asked the court to take into account Yunos’s early guilty plea, expressions of remorse and steps taken to rehabilitate.

Yunos has also committed to return to Malaysia upon his release from custody.