Dutch teenager sexually assaulted on her first day in Mayo

A DUTCH teenager who moved to Kilmaine to work as an au pair was sexually assaulted after going for a walk on her first day in the country.
Patrick Walsh (59) of 1 Riverside Close, Kilmaine, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman when he touched her breast while giving her a hug after they walked together for a while near the village.
The court heard that the Dutch teenager had come to the locality to work as an au pair for a local family. And around midday on September 30, 2017, she went for a walk through the village to explore her surroundings.
Sergeant Mark Crehen explained that the host family had told her about a walk in the village but that she had walked too far and become lost. She then encountered Mr Walsh. In a statement to Sgt Crehen, she said that Mr Walsh was unsteady on his feet and drunk but was friendly and showed her the way to go to find her way back.
While they walked together, the teenager, who is a keen photographer, took photographs of her environment, and Mr Walsh allowed her to take some of him. Sgt Crehen said the woman then wanted to leave Mr Walsh, he pouted his lips in a kissing gesture and stopped her from going through a gate.
Sgt Crehen said the victim was fearful but gave him a kiss on the cheek in the hope he would go away, but he also wanted a hug. As they hugged he placed his hand inside her jacket and touched her breast. She immediately pulled away and went back to her host family and reported the incident to the Gardaí.
The court heard that the teenager returned to The Netherlands a couple of days after the incident and did not return. Sgt Crehen said he spoke to her regarding the court case and she declined a right of audience (to attend court).
Sgt Crehen said she assumed Mr Walsh was being friendly, as Ireland has a reputation of being a friendly place. Sgt Crehen said Mr Walsh is a chronic alcoholic but has no criminal convictions. He was arrested the day after the incident, and admitted to the offence and said that he had been drinking and ‘topping up from the night before’.
Mr Thomas Walsh, solicitor for the defendant, said his client wished to apoligise to the young girl and that he hoped the incident would not affect her in the long term. He said he was a single man who lived alone and that he was willing to undergo treatment for his alcoholism.
Judge Mary Devins said that this young woman had the right to walk in this beautiful part of the country unmolested, and that it was a misfortune that she had to meet this ‘inadequate, pathetic, socially underdeveloped alcoholic’. She felt further probation reports would not assist her and fined Mr Walsh €1,000.