Cork man jailed for four years for sexual assault

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A 34-year-old Cork man was jailed for four years for sexually assaulting his former partner’s 13-year-old daughter while babysitting her. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed the sentence at the Central Criminal Court. The assault occurred on 22 May 2013. The man pleaded guilty to sexual assault. The proceedings were reported on 8 June 2015.

The judge said the plea was accepted on the basis that the court would hear the full facts, allowing him to take account of the man’s attempt to have sex with the girl.

Detective Garda Frank Morgan said the man shared four and a half cans of alcohol with the girl before she went to bed. The report said he then performed a sex act on her while pinning her down. The detective said she told gardaí he also tried to have sex with her during the 20-minute assault.

The man told gardaí he could not remember everything but accepted her allegations “if she is saying that”. In her victim impact statement, she described flashbacks, panic attacks and feeling claustrophobic in class.

The detective agreed with Thomas Creed SC, defending, that the man had consumed “quite a bit of alcohol” and that his drinking caused the split with the girl’s mother. He also agreed that the man expressed genuine remorse and attended the garda station shortly after the attack. Defence counsel asked the judge to consider his full co-operation, early guilty plea, remorse and previous good character.

The judge described his lack of previous convictions as his greatest mitigation. He accepted that the man recognised the serious consequences of his actions and had made efforts to address alcoholism on remand. The judge said the man would be on the sexual offender’s register and under garda supervision after release.