Man sexually assaults young boy after luring him from family garden

An alcoholic who lured a seven-year-old boy away from his front garden, falsely imprisoned and sexually assaulted him twice has been jailed for three years.

Michael McKenna (aged 34) of Backlane Hostel, Christchurch, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one of false imprisonment of the child at a Dublin address in February 25, 2011.

Judge Martin Nolan sitting at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court granted an application at the request of the child’s parents to lift reporting restrictions in relation to McKenna so he could be named in the media.

The parents and family members of the child wept throughout the hearing as Detective Sergeant Kevin Duggan detailed the horrific nature of the assaults to Ms Melanie Greally BL prosecuting.

The court heard McKenna, a UK national, had only been living in Ireland for a year and a half prior to the offences.

Det Sgt Duggan said the child was playing football on his own at the front of his house when he was approached by McKenna who asked him to pass the ball.

McKenna then invited the child to a nearby property promising him an opportunity to play a newly-released computer game. The child told McKenna he would need to ask his parents permission but McKenna said he “didn’t need to”.

The child then accompanied McKenna back to the house where McKenna brought him to an upstairs bedroom.

McKenna then removed the child’s trousers and pushed him on the bed and began kissing him on the mouth and face before performing oral sex on the child.

At this point the child was crying and repeatedly pleaded with McKenna to stop and to let him go home, to which McKenna repeatedly replied: “10 minutes”.

McKenna then removed his own trousers and exposed his penis to the child and asked him to put his mouth on it. The child, who was now standing up and crying loudly, pushed McKenna away.

Det Sgt Duggan said the man then became concerned that another tenant in the house would hear the child’s cries and brought him downstairs to a laundry room and assaulted him again in the same manner.

McKenna warned him not to tell his parents before allowing the child to leave.

As the child made his way home, he encountered a group of his friends and told an older child what had happened.

The child’s father was informed and immediately contacted gardaí.

The victim’s father then went to the house where he believed the accused to be, but McKenna had already fled.

Following a wide-scale search, gardaí discovered McKenna asleep in back of a truck at 2.25am the following morning and arrested him.

McKenna initially denied the charges and only when confronted with the child’s statement did he make limited admissions of his guilt to gardaí.

Det Sgt Duggan said McKenna denied the offences and claimed he was drinking heavily at the time and had no memory.

During his second interview McKenna made some admissions and told gardaí: “This is killing me. The flashbacks are terrible. It was all wrong.”

Ms Greally said McKenna’s actions have had a “profoundly disturbing effect” on the child and his parents who in a bid to escape “painful memories” have decided to move from the area where they had been surrounded by family and friends.

Since the attack, the child suffers from nightmares and constantly fears he could be kidnapped.

Det Sgt Duggan agreed with defence counsel Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, the accused did not know the child prior to the attack.

McKenna had only moved to the area six weeks previously after taking up an offer of accommodation from a woman he had met.

Judge Nolan said McKenna had encountered his victim “innocently playing football” and had stolen that innocence in a “particularly gross way”.

He said: “It’s hard to imagine how much the child’s parents have suffered and I’m sure it’s hard to have much forgiveness.”

The child’s parent’s wept as Judge Nolan jailed McKenna for three years.

As McKenna was led away the child’s father cried out: “You’re an animal!”