Man convicted in Mayo defilement case

A MAN has been convicted of defiling a child under the age of 17 at his home in Co Mayo six years ago. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainant, had pleaded not guilty to defilement on July 15, 2020.

He was acquitted on a separate count of sexually assaulting the same complainant during a staff party the previous evening, between July 14 and 15, 2020.

The all-male jury deliberated for five and a half hours before returning a 10/2 majority verdict of guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court last Thursday, following a week-long trial.

Judge Eoin Garavan remanded the accused on bail and fixed a date for sentence on November 6, pending the preparation of a psychological report.

The complainant was 16 years’ old at the time of the offence while the accused was 28.

The court heard she drank about five or six bottles of cider at the staff party, which lasted from 7pm until after midnight.

The complainant told Pat Reynolds, BL, prosecuting, that she had not known the accused before the party but they ended up sitting beside each other and chatting with a group of people.

She said that during conversation with the accused and others, she said she was 16 years’ old.

The court heard that the two exchanged Snapchat details and arranged by phone to meet in his car for a cigarette, during which she mentioned she was at school.

The court also heard from another witness who described the accused and the injured party ‘sneaking in and out and smoking,’ adding that they were gone ‘about 80 percent of the time’.

“We were laughing because they thought no one noticed,” said the witness, who said she did not drink on the night because she was driving.

The witness told the court she said to the accused: ‘What are you doing?’ and that he replied, ‘Are you stupid, she’s only 16.’

“I knew that he knew she was only 16,” the witness said.

The witness added that one or two weeks later, the complainant told her that she had had sex with the accused the day after the party, that he was choking her and she didn’t like it, and that he ‘treated her like trash, disrespectful’.

Texting

THE injured party told the court that the accused began texting her the afternoon after the party, saying he wanted sex and that the offer was available for ‘24 hours only’.

Under cross-examination from Giollaiosa O Lidheadha SC, defending, she said the accused made her feel ‘it was a deal or a favour’.

“He tripped my brain the way he phrased it,” she said, adding: “It was a manipulative deal against a vulnerable young person.”

She told the court she went to his house and they had sex in his bedroom and that after he left the room to clean up, she ‘almost burst into tears and immediately regretted it’.

The complainant’s mother also gave evidence and said there was ‘trauma and upset’ after her daughter told her what had happened.

The accused made a statement to gardaí saying he had kissed the complainant at a staff party but denied sexually assaulting her or having sex with her in his home the following day.

The accused said the complainant ‘took steps’ to make him believe she was over 18, including telling him that she wanted to go to college and was working to try and save money for her tuition fees.

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He cited several other factors that led him to assume that she was over 18, including that she was ‘tall and well-developed’ and that she was smoking and vaping all night.

The accused said no one else at the staff party was under age and he saw the complainant’s boss and an experienced bartender both serve her alcohol repeatedly.

The accused told gardaí that in the days directly after the party the injured party had put him ‘under pressure’ to see her again. “I only met her as she was pressuring me as a threat (sic) of telling my girlfriend,” he said.

The accused said they met on a few occasions but that he told her they could not continue to meet as he had a girlfriend.

He said: “She has only made this complaint because I wouldn’t leave my girlfriend for her. I believe this complaint was out of vengeance.”

Summation

IN his summation of the charge, Judge Garavan asked the jury to regard the accused’s prepared statement to gardaí as different to evidence, pointing out that he had not been cross-examined on it.

“If you write up something like this, it’s not the same as giving evidence in court, it’s self-serving, it looks after your interest,” said the judge.

In evidence, the complainant gave a detailed description of the layout and contents of the accused’s bedroom.

During his charge, the judge described this as a ‘small island of evidence’ and asked the jury how did the victim know what his bedroom looked like.

Judge Garavan also noted an ‘absence of supporting evidence’ in the prosecution’s case, pointing out that there were no forensics, no photographs or evidence of injuries.

The judge said he wanted to commend the complainant for her courage but that the appropriate time for these comments was at sentencing.

He thanked the jury and excused them from further duty for three years, saying it had been a very difficult case, legally and factually. The accused was ordered to sign on once a week at his local garda station.