Slovakian man jailed for rape in Sligo

A former member of the Slovakian police force who raped a female relative in his Sligo home last year has been jailed for eight years by Mr Justice Eamon de Valera at the Central Criminal Court.

Ladislav Pavlak, a 36-year-old divorced father, with an address at Ougham, Riverstown who cried consistently during the sentence hearing, was convicted by a jury earlier this month following an eight-day trial of raping the then 20-year-old woman on August 14, 2006.

Pavlak was found guilty by a 10-2 majority on the rape charge and by 11-1 majority of sexually assaulting her on the same occasion. He had denied the charges.

Mr Justice de Valera said he had searched for reasons to impose as lenient as possible a sentence on Pavlak and having reviewed recent sentences in these cases he had to impose an eight-year term for the rape charge and four years for the sexual assault.

He said there had been a serious breach of trust in that the victim had been placed in Pavlak's care on that night by her family. He was also the father of two daughters and a former police force member who should have known better than what he done.

Mr Justice de Valera noted that he was a person of blameless character prior to this and taking note also of the submission by defence counsel, Mr Martin Giblin SC, that Pavlak being "a stranger in a strange land" would find prison here to be harsher than for an Irish citizen, he suspended the final two years of the eight year sentence.

The sentence dates from August 15, 2006 when Pavlak was taken into custody and leave to appeal conviction and sentence was refused. Mr Justice de Valera has also certified Pavlak for registration as a sex offender.

Sergeant Martin Donoghue told prosecuting counsel, Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC (with Ms Eileen O'Leary BL), that Pavlak had never come to garda attention before this event and he had no convictions in Slovakia where he had been a technician with the police force until his retirement following a serious accident.

Sgt Donoghue said the victim was taken to hospital as a result of a drug overdose after Pavlak raped her while she slept-over in his house after it was arranged with her family that he would help her get a job.

She had taken a sleeping bag for the sleep-over in a guest bedroom but was woken some hours later by Pavlak shining a light from his mobile phone in her eyes and kissing her on the neck.

Sgt Donoghue said she stood up clutching the sleeping bag to her body and a struggle followed during which Pavlak struck her before he ripped off her panties and digitally penetrated her. She finally stopped resisting to get her ordeal over with and he raped her.

When Pavlak left the room she dressed and left his house. The jury heard evidence from her mother and other family members who described how she called them by phone in the early hours of the morning asking to be picked up while she walked from Riverstown to another Sligo town after the rape.

Though stopped at a garda checkpoint, the family didn't tell the gardai their daughter was in trouble.

The jury also heard how Pavlak was aroused from sleep by being slapped on the face by the victim's mother who demanded to know what he had done to her daughter. He was then punched and kicked by members of the family and locked himself back in the house for safety.

Pavlak gave evidence denying he raped her and claimed they had consensual sex the previous week when the victim also stayed over by arrangement following a party at his home.

He told Mr Giblin (with Mr Francis Comerford BL) that they "made love several times" that night after she hugged and kissed him when everyone else had left and told him nobody loved her.

He agreed he had denied to the gardai when interviewed that he had sex with her at any time "because I am a practising Roman Catholic and I was ashamed".