Sexual predator jailed for five years for attack on boy
The defendant pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
A sexual predator, described by a judge as “every parent’s worst nightmare”, has been jailed for five years for an assault on a 10-year-old boy.
The 47-year-old Mayo man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, previously pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to charges of sexual assault and travelling to meet a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
On June 29, 2022, the injured party reported the assault to his grandmother soon after it occurred. He had initially met the accused through his cousins and spoke again to him on the social media channel Snapchat.
The accused encouraged him to skip football training and meet him in a graveyard. He drove the child to a lake and offered him alcohol, vapes, and drugs which the boy refused.
While in the back of the van, the man pulled down the boy's pants and started sucking his penis. The boy told him to stop and tried to push him off but the accused would not get off him. It was only when the boy started roaring and shouting louder that he stopped.
On July 1, 2022, Gardaí obtained a search warrant for the accused's home. His van was seized but he claimed he lost his phone. Two pillows, a duvet, cannabis, Vaseline, and a knife were found in the van.
The defendant was captured on CCTV in the area where the assault took place.
When interviewed by Gardaí, the 47-year-old said the boy added him on Snapchat and he didn’t want to add him back.
The man claimed he and the victim “just went for a spin” and were throwing stones at the lake. The man’s DNA was discovered on the boy’s underwear.
The defendant has one previous conviction for a public order offence.
The court heard victim impact statements from the boy’s grandmother and father.
His grandmother said she is constantly in fear that something will happen to her grandson every time he leaves the house. The boy suffered from nightmares following his ordeal.
“He went to play football and this happened to him," she remarked.
The case was adjourned for probation and psychological reports and came before Judge Eoin Garavan for finalisation last week.
The defendant wrote two letters to the judge in which he claimed he was depressed at the time of the offending and suffering with stress because there was pyrite in his house. He asked for another chance to “prove I can be a good person".
Probation officers and a psychologist were not convinced that the man had a proper insight into his offending and the narrative he gave them behind his crime “was not plausible". He denied being attracted to children and denied being aroused when he assaulted the boy.
“This offence was every parent’s worst nightmare,” remarked Judge Garavan.
He said the facts were “almost filmic” and what occurred was “like a scenario portrayed in the media that doesn’t actually happen"
“There was the white van, the predatory male, and a young, vulnerable child.”
The judge said the crime was pre-planned and carefully prepared.
Judge Garavan noted that the defendant was aware of DNA evidence when interviewed by Gardaí. He said the man “very cleverly” told officers that he and the boy had spat on their palms and shook hands before agreeing to meet again.
The victim’s older brother pretended to be the victim and contacted the man on social media when his sibling told the family about what had happened. The defendant indicated he wanted to meet again during this exchange.
Judge Garavan said this displayed an “utter lack of shame and insight”. The judge jailed the 47-year-old for five years. The sentence was backdated to December 6, 2023, to reflect time spent in custody.
