Corkman jailed for sex assault on girl

A Corkman has been jailed for four years for sexually assaulting his former partner’s 13-year-old daughter while he babysat the girl.

Detective Garda Frank Morgan said the man gave the teenager over four cans of beer before he abused her in her bed.

Timothy O’Leary, prosecuting, told the court the victim wishes to waive her right to anonymity to have the accused named. However, as she is still a child, she is not permitted under the law to do so.

The 34-year-old man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the girl on May 22, 2013. He has no previous convictions.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy noted although the man pleaded guilty to sexual assault, the plea was accepted on the basis of the court hearing the full facts and, as such, the court was entitled to take into account that the man attempted to have sex with the girl.

Mr Justice McCarthy

said his lack of previous convictions was his greatest source of mitigation. He sentenced the man to four years in prison.

Mr Justice McCarthy noted that the man will be placed on the sexual offender’s register.

The teenager revealed in a victim impact statement read out in court how she suffers flashbacks and panic attacks and feels claustrophobic in classrooms.

She said she experiences daily “outbursts of anger which my family find impossible to deal with” and her family are “always walking on eggshells” around her.

Thomas Creed, defending, asked Mr Justice McCarthy to take into consideration his client’s full co-operation, early guilty plea, remorse, and previous good character.