Married man was guilty of ‘most serious offence’ with teenage girl
The 33-year-old began a relationship with the then 15-year-old girl which lasted for nearly five months.
A man who had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl has been given a suspended sentence.
The defendant, who was aged 33 and married at the time, cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim. He pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to three counts of engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 17 years. The charges relate to incidents between May 1, 2020, and October 14, 2020.
The facts in this case were heard previously. The defendant began a relationship with the then 15-year-old girl in May 2020 and it lasted for nearly five months.
Detective Garda John Lynskey said the defendant picked up the 15-year-old at her house on October 10, 2020, to babysit his children about 10km away. However, the girl’s mother later learned that the pair had travelled to another town 15km away before going to the man's home to mind the children.
Det Gda Lynskey said the girl’s mother took possession of her phone and observed messages from the accused. These messages had been sent through an encrypted platform. The teenager subsequently admitted to her mother that a relationship had developed with the defendant and the matter was reported to Gardaí on October 14, 2020.
The girl provided a statement to specialist Garda interviewers on October 26, 2020, in which she said she engaged in consensual oral sex three times with the accused.
Gardaí became aware of a text message the defendant sent to his wife on October 17, 2020, in which he admitted having had a sexual relationship with the girl. His marriage subsequently broke down.
When questioned by gardaí, the defendant made a full admission. He has no previous convictions. The girl did not provide a victim impact statement.
Judge Eoin Garavan said that this was a most serious offence and it was aggravating that the three incidents occurred over a prolonged period of time when the defendant should have had time to reflect on what he was doing.
Judge Garavan said, however, there was no evidence of coercion or grooming and psychology and medical reports have confirmed that the defendant presents no risk to the welfare of children and that he is not likely to commit an offence of a sexual nature again.
He added that whatever ‘demons’ the defendant had were ‘healthily dealt with’ through counselling which also gave him insight that what he had done was offending conduct.
Judge Garavan imposed a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years.
