Search continues for child sex abuser
THE trial of James Lombard heard evidence of how he sexually assaulted seven boys in the early 1990s at restaurants and swimming pools around Cork.
All of the boys were then aged between seven and 10 years old, and in all of the cases their parents were just a short distance away when the assaults took place.
The trial, held earlier this month, was the first to be staged in the refurbished courthouse in Washington Street and detailed the acts of sexual abuse committed between August 1992 and March 1994.
Two of the assaults on the boys, now aged in their late teens and early 20s, were carried out at the Burgerland and Burger King restaurants on Patrick Street.
Other assaults took place at McDonald’s on Winthrop Street and at the Kylemore restaurant in the Merchants Quay shopping centre.
Most of the boys were on shopping trips with their parents and had been taken to the restaurants as a treat.
In the above cases the court was told that Lombard fondled the boys in a sexual manner about their genitals and buttocks.
Three of them were taken into toilet cubicles where they had their pants pulled down and were fondled.
Three further offences happened at swimming pools where the boys were changing into their togs and getting ready to join their parents in the pool.
One of Lombard’s victims recalled what happened to him when he was assaulted in a toilet at age 10.
“As I unzipped my pants I was pushed into a cubicle. All my clothes were taken off. He kissed me around the stomach. He kept saying: ‘I’m your dad.’
“He asked me to face the door. I turned around. He took off all of my clothes.”
The victim added that Lombard then threw his clothes in the toilet.
“He was kissing my waist, touching me around the buttocks. I screamed. The man who assaulted me ran away,” he added.
In all cases the parents of the victims were only a short distance away when the incidents happened. Usually there was just one or two walls between them.
In one case a mother was using the ladies toilets while her son was in the gents.
On February 7 last, the jury in the case at Cork Circuit Criminal Court took just 45 minutes to convict Lombard, aged 36, on all seven charges against him.
He had spent roughly 10 years living in England and was extradited last year to face the charges. Gardaí believe most of this time was spent in the London area and this is why he picked up what they describe as a smattering of a “Cockney accent”.
He is described as being of heavy build with tidy hair, well spoken and 5ft 8in tall. He nearly always dresses casually.
LOMBARD disappeared before the end of the trial and Judge Sean Ó Donnabhain issued a bench warrant for his arrest following an application by prosecuting barrister Marjorie Farrelly.
Judge Ó Donnabhain heard that Lombard (who wasn’t named at the time due to legal reasons) had signed on for social welfare at 9am on February 7.
He failed to appear at 10.30am on the same day for the formal closing of the case by the prosecution and defence.
This prompted the judge to say it would be fairer if he summed up.
He reminded the jury that Lombard had pleaded not guilty to all seven charges, though gardaí said he had made statements of admission.
Lombard said he was depressed, anxious and not in control of his mind when the statements were made.
Judge Ó Donnabhain then pointed out that the accused had, under cross-examination by Ms Farrelly, accepted that he was the man who carried out the assaults.
During a statement to gardaí, Lombard said: “I deeply regret what I inflicted on these young people.”
Garda sources said that Lombard has been able to spin tall tales and rely on other people’s goodwill to find a roof over his head.
They believe he recently stayed in Cork with people who didn’t know his real identity. “He’s a bit of a confidence-trickster,” one source said.
Anybody who sees him is asked to ring their local garda station immediately.
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