Dublin teen who raped six-year-old cousin is spared detention

A Dublin teenager who raped his six-year-old cousin in the bathroom of his home has been given a two and a half year community sanction allowing him to stay in his community and attend school.

The teenager will remain under the supervision of the Probation Services and the HSE for the period of the sanction and has been ordered to attend a therapeutic unit.

Mr Justice Paul Carney declared the teenager a sex offender and said “were the accused a person of mature years, I would be hovering between six and eight years in prison.”

The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to raping his cousin in a Dublin suburb on April 2, 2011.

Neither of the teenager’s parents, who are drug addicts, appeared in court and he was accompanied in the dock by a HSE care worker.

The prosecuting garda told prosecuting counsel Pieter Le Vert BL, the boy was raped in the bathroom of his home.

The victim's brother knocked on the door during the incident but the teenager told him that they were playing wrestling.

Mr Le Vert, said that the parents made a complaint to gardaí and when gardai brought the teenager in for questioning he admitted everything.

He told the gardaí that did not know why he did it.

He said he had heard boys talking about sex in school, in relation to girls, and added that he didn’t think anyone would find out about it.

The court heard that the teenager had a difficult upbringing and that his parents were “chronic drug users.” He is now in the care of the HSE.

In a victim impact statement, the boy’s mother said her son started wetting the bed after the incident and will have to see a counsellor for the foreseeable future.

She said she is worried about how the abuse will affect her son once he is old enough to fully understand what had happened.

The court heard that the victim has “bad dreams” about the incident and his mother “would always worry about it.”

Defence counsel Aileen Donnelly SC told the court that the teenager had a “negligent upbringing," wasn't fed properly and often appeared unkempt.

Ms Donnelly said the teen accepted he had done something wrong from the offset and admitted to the offence immediately.

She told the court that he had a “completely dysfunctional upbringing”. She said he is on the borderline range of intellectual difficulty and shows a lack of understanding of the harm he has caused.