Sentence deferred for teen who sexually assaulted two girls

A 15-year-old boy who sexually assaulted two 13-year-old girls in the grounds of a Dublin school has had a two year sentence deferred for a year.

The boy, who was also 13-years-old at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexual assault at the school in April 2009.

Detective Sergeant Ronan Murphy said the two girls, who were best friends at the time, had followed the boy and three of his friends into the grounds of the school after they had taken a mobile phone and a bottle of water from them.

One of the girls was in the same school as the four boys but she was not friendly with them.

The girls were then separated and kept apart. The boy held one of the girls on the ground while he took down her trousers and underwear and tried to have sex with her.

He was assisted by one of his friends.

He then went to the other girl and sexually assaulted her on three separate occasions while asking her for oral sex. He was again assisted by one of his friends.

The incident came to an end when the second girl said she was going to get her “fella”.

Det Sgt Murphy said this seemed to frighten the boy and “brought the incident to an end”. He said the girls were too scared to tell their parents but the assault came to light after there was a sex education course at the teenagers’ school. A teacher contacted one of the girl’s mothers and the second girl’s parents were then informed.

Det Sgt Murphy said one of the girls had “extensive bruising” while her friend outlined in a victim impact statement that she “lost her innocence that day”.

The first girl’s parents have installed CCTV cameras in their home to combat their daughter’s nervousness as a result of the attack. She has also changed schools.

The boy was interviewed but made limited admissions. He later took more responsibility and pleaded guilty earlier this year.

The boy’s youth worker told Ms Iseult O’Malley SC, defending, that the teenager approached him in September 2009 and told him he was in trouble with the gardaí.

He then started to attend one-on-one weekly sessions and group sessions three times per week.

The witness told Ms O’Malley that her client never told him what had happened that day. He said in his first sessions with the boy he told him he hated the girls and claimed they were lying but said since then his attitude has changed “hugely” and he “feels guilty”.

He told counsel that the boy has fantastic parental support and was recently diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Judge Martin Nolan said that 13-year-old boys can be “pretty immature and pretty senseless” and have not reached maturity either psychologically or physically.

He described the case as “distressing” and noted the huge impact it had on the two girls.

“I have no doubt that they were incredibly frightened and have suffered long-term consequences but hopefully they can both get on with their lives,” Judge Nolan said.

He said he found it very hard to see what motivated the boy on the day in question and added that he hopes he now realises what a serious effect his actions had on the two girls.

Judge Nolan said the reports from the probation service and the youth organisation that the teenager attends suggest that he is capable of rehabilitation and that he has started to show “some sort of insight” into what he has done.

He deferred the imposition of two year's detention on the condition that the boy liaise with the probation service for three years and engages with his local youth organisation and an organisation for adolescent sex offenders. He will review the sentence in 12 months.

Judge Nolan told the boy that he would be “liable to go into custody” if he did not follow the conditions. “You are very young and hopefully nothing like this will ever happen again,” Judge Nolan said.

The two boys who assisted the teenager are due to be sentenced next month after they pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the girls. They were also 13 years old at the time.