By Sonya McLean
A member of the defence forces has been jailed for eight years for the rape of a 17-year-old girl after her step-father introduced him to the teenager that night.
The man, who is in his 30s, agreed to take the teenager home, along with two older women.
After dropping off the two women he instead brought the girl to his own family home where he later raped her.
The teenager recorded the rapes on her mobile phone but the man later claimed that all sexual interactions that night between them was consensual. He said the girl was role playing in the videos.
The man denied two charges of rape, a charge of oral rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment at his home in the midlands on January 26, 2023.
The footage from the teenager’s phone was played during the trial which took place earlier this year in the Central Criminal Court.
The jury convicted the man on both the rape charges and the oral rape charge. He was acquitted on the charges of sexual assault and false imprisonment.
A local garda told Conor Devally SC, prosecuting, that the teenager’s step-father knew the man and introduced him to the teenager that night when they were all out socialising in their local town.
CCTV footage, played during the trial shows the man, the teenager and her family interacting with each other throughout the night.
Arrangements were made for the man to drop the teenager home but instead he brought her to the family home that he shared with his parents and family.
He instructed the teenager to go into his bedroom. He demanded that she “get undressed, stay quiet” and he told her “to shut the fuck up,” the garda told the court.
The garda said a significant amount of what followed was recorded on the teenager’s phone and the footage was both audible and visible.
The garda said the teenager showed signs of distress and was in tears during the sexual interactions.
At one point she asked to go to the bathroom but the man shadowed her.
She was able to send messages to her family looking for help and used Snapchat to help them ascertain her location.
The garda said the man then “hustled the teenager out of the house” when his brother arrived home.
The man offered to give her a lift home but she refused so he walked her to a specific location where her family picked her up.
The gardaí arrived with her family as they had already alerted them to the situation.
The man was arrested at the scene as he was still with the teenager at the time. She made a complaint straight away and handed over her phone where the videos were discovered.
During his interview with gardaí and throughout the trial, the man maintained that all interactions were consensual and suggested that they were role playing in the videos.
He has no previous convictions and has not indicated whether he accepts the verdicts of the jury.
The now 21-year-old woman read her victim impact statement into the record. She said “no words” can fully explain the impact on her but she wanted the court to understand.
She said she should have been able to feel safe and “enjoy being young” but the effects of that night have stayed with her ever since.
“One of the hardest things I had to live with since is how I felt in my own body. I became disgusted by it. My body no longer felt like it belonged to me. I felt ashamed, violated and deeply uncomfortable,” the woman continued.
“Something as ordinary as taking a shower became emotionally exhausting.
“It was not just a memory. It was a feeling that followed me into moments which should have been private and peaceful. I have lived with anxiety and memories I cannot simply choose to forget,” the woman said. She went on to describe the court process as being “incredibly difficult”.
“It forced me to re-live one of the worst experiences of my life again and again. There have been too many moments when I have felt isolated.
“It is not something to choose and not something I can leave behind. It changes how you see yourself, how you see others, how they see you and how you move through your life,” the woman said.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said the teenager was half the man’s age and he met her in the company of her mother and step-father. She noted that he offered to drive her home before bringing her instead into his family home and raping her.
The judge acknowledged the “powerful victim impact statement” delivered by the woman outlining the effect the rapes have had on her life.
She accepted that the man was entitled to fully contest the trial but added that he has not acknowledged the crimes against her nor has he offered an apology or shown remorse.
Ms Justice Creedon said the teenager was disorientated by being brought to “this unexpected location”.
She set a headline sentence of 10 years which she reduced to nine years having taken into account his “general co-operation with the investigation” and his lack of previous convictions. Ms Justice Creedon suspended the final year of that nine-year term on strict conditions.
Dominic McGinn SC, defending, accepted that the teenager was “a child in law at the time” and said that his client “believed that she was consenting” that night.
He submitted to the court that the jury verdict reflects a view that he engaged recklessly in terms of whether or not she was consenting, rather than it being deliberate actions of sexual misconduct.
Counsel also submitted that this was “not a predatory older male raping a younger female” and suggested that his client’s actions afterwards, walking the teenager and waiting with her until her family arrived, support this submission.
“In my submissions, this is much more than the actions of someone who is acting recklessly rather than deliberately,” Mr McGinn said, before he asked the court to give his client credit for his previous good character.
Counsel submitted a number of testimonials to the court, which he said “universally speak highly of him” and indicate that the “priority in his life is the welfare of his two children”.
Mr McGinn said his client is “under suspension” from the defence forces. He said he had “an exemplary record” in the military and said that while his career is technically not at an end, he will no longer be a member of the defence forces when the court process is at an end.
“The end of his career will also be an enormous hardship,” Mr McGinn said.