Man jailed for sexual assault of 11-year-old girl

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

A 42-year-old man received a two-year prison sentence, with the final year suspended, for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl. Judge Patricia Ryan also ordered him to be registered as a sex offender. The proceedings were reported on 26 February 2016.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the child’s identity, was found guilty by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury the previous November of two counts of sexual assault. The offences occurred at his then home between 18 March and 20 April 2008.

Garda Paul O'Hanlon told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that the man and the child’s family were staying in the same house. The report said the child’s mother was away for several weeks when the offences occurred. The court heard that, on one occasion, the man rubbed the child’s chest and legs for about 20 minutes.

On the second occasion, outside the child’s bedroom while her father was in the bathroom, the man touched her legs and chest and thrust himself against her. He stopped when he heard the toilet flushing. The offences came to light after her mother returned. Fiona McGowan BL submitted a victim impact report prepared by the child.

Paul Greene SC, defending, said the man now accepted the jury’s verdict. He argued that the conduct was close to the threshold of criminality and involved limited engagement, comparing it with more determined and violent offending by others convicted of the same crime. The man had no previous convictions. The judge noted his low risk of reoffending and lack of further adverse attention, but said the girl had been very young and vulnerable and that he had occupied a position of trust.