Teenager who sexually assaulted girl remanded for assessment

A teenage boy, who sexually assaulted a young girl when he was aged 13, has been remanded in custody for an urgent psychological assessment to be carried out.

The boy, now aged 15, had pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children’s Court earlier to sexually assaulting the girl who is in her early teens.

While drunk, he had molested the girl, chased her down a north Dublin road, made lewd suggestions to her and exposed his penis during the ordeal, the court had heard.

The case had been adjourned until today, to allow him to attend psychological counselling.

However, Judge Anne Ryan heard yesterday that the teenager, who is from north Dublin, had refused to go to appointments with the counsellor.

The teen’s mother said that despite her efforts to persuade him to go to counselling, he repeatedly refused to attend.

Judge Ryan also noted from a victim impact report that the incident had a huge effect on the girl.

Her father told the court that: “He (the boy) does not realise how serious an offence it was. Just days after the night in question he made snide remarks to her on the street and threw yoghurts at her, after being caught doing what he did. I think he is making a joke of this situation. He just does not care.”

The man also said that he felt sorry for the boy’s mother after hearing about her difficulties in getting him to attend counselling and to understand the seriousness of the case.

Judge Ryan remanded the teenager in custody until next week for an urgent psychological assessment to be carried out.

Earlier, Garda Philip McGarry had given evidence the victim had been out walking with a friend when she noticed the defendant behind them.

He followed her and put his hands around her waist and asked her to “meet him”. She refused and walked away with her friend, he then grabbed her again and said “I will ride you,” to her.

The young girl broke free and walked away from the boy who followed her again.

“He pushed her and forced her against the wall and then put his hands down his trousers and started to fondle his penis against the victim,” the garda said.

The girl broke free and ran home and alerted her father who jumped into his car and went searching for him.

He caught the defendant nearby and he was then identified by his daughter and her friend as the person who had assaulted her.

The father held onto the accused until the gardaí arrived.