Man found not guilty in rape case

A man who had consensual sexual intercourse with a then 13-year-old girl on Howth Head in 2001 has become the first to be found not guilty by a jury on his belief as to her age at the time.

The jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court took less than one hour to acquit him of sexually assaulting her.

The now 27-year-old north Dubliner - referred to as "Mr K" - was the first man to offer the defence of believing at the time that she was old enough to legally consent to having sex with him on October 18, 2001.

The now 20-year-old woman told her father and the gardaí some days later that she hadn’t been raped by him. "I knew what I was doing. I was a bit drunk."

She agreed with defence counsel, Mr Brendan Nix SC (with Ms Marie Torrens BL), in cross-examination at the trial that she was put under pressure to tell her father what had happened and go to the gardai by at least one of her close friends who threatened that if she didn’t do so she would and their friendship would end.

The accused was among a number of men originally indicted for having ‘unlawful carnal knowledge’ until the Supreme Court ruled almost two years ago in the case known as "Mr C" that the legislation under which they were charged was unconstitutional because it didn’t permit for a defence of genuine belief as to age.

The original ‘unlawful carnal knowledge charges’ were dropped by the State following the Supreme Court ruling and "Mr K" and the other men were then charged with "sexual assault".

He denied sexually assaulting the then 13-year-old girl on Howth Head after they had consumed some alcohol.

"Mr K" told Mr Nix in evidence that he believed she was aged "17 going on 18" when they had sex. The jury also heard evidence from a pharmacist who sold her an inhaler at that time of believing she was in the 21-year-old range and from female witnesses who said they also believed she was 18 or older.

The ruling by the Supreme Court in May 2006 that Section 1.1 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935, was unconstitutional because it did not allow the defence of mistaken belief as to the girl's age, sparked a political emergency and a national child protection crisis.

This meant that the charges of unlawful carnal knowledge of girls under the age of 15 against "Mr K" and others could no longer proceed.

Six months later, the Director of Public Prosecutions indicated that he would bring fresh charges against six men and entered a nolle prosequi on the unlawful carnal knowledge charges.

The six men were then cleared of that charge but were re-arrested and charged with sexual assault offences.

A Donegal youth charged with the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl on August 5, 2006, when he was aged 15, is to challenge the current legislation in the High Court on the grounds that he is the victim of discrimination because it unfairly grants her immunity from prosecution despite having had sex with him.

The now 17-year-old youth’s legal team will challenge the 2006 statutory rape law which creates the crime of having sex with a person before they reach the age of consent, even if they were a willing partner.

The Government introduced this in June 2006 to prevent the criminalisation of teenage pregnancies when it sought to plug the loophole identified by the "Mr C" case and has rejected demands for its repeal from legal experts, the Ombudsman for Children and the joint Oireachtas committee on child protection, among others.

The youth’s lawyers will argue that the current law breaches article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits gender discrimination, as well as article 8 of the European Convention which they are expected to claim denies his right to a private life.