Suspended sentence for young man who sexually assaulted cousin

A 21-year-old man from Cavan has received a three-year suspended sentence following his guilty plea to sexually assaulting his 15-year-old cousin at the Central Criminal Court. The offence occurred on May 17, 2015, when the accused was 18 years old. The court heard that both had grown up closely together and that the man had developed a romantic interest in his cousin. He lacked sexual education and maturity for his age, with his first discussion about sexual consent occurring during garda interview after the incident. The victim, now 18, provided a victim impact statement describing the emotional distress caused but noting she did not regard her cousin as dangerous. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy suspended the sentence in full, conditional on the man's compliance with the Probation Service and completion of a community-based treatment program for sex offenders. The judge noted that psychological assessment indicated low re-offending risk and considered the probation reports favourably.