Hollymount man given four year jail term for sexual assault on young girl

A HOLLYMOUNT man has been given a four-year jail term for the sexual abuse of a young girl. The girl was aged around six years old when the man, Mark Walsh (31) of Hollymount Demesne, Hollymount, first began abusing her. The abuse continued over a four-year period.
Mr Pat Reynolds SC, prosecution for the State, indicated to last Tuesday’s sitting of the Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court that the victim expressed her wishes that her abuser would be named, but chose to remain anonymous herself.
Walsh previously pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual assault which took place on unknown dates between January 2006 and December 2010 in and around his home. It was accepted by the prosecuting garda, Detective Michelle Nolan, that the abuse occurred over a much shorter period during the four years charged on the indictment.
The court heard that the victim made an admission of the sexual abuse for the first time to her sister in October 2016. Shortly after that the victim attempted to take her own life ‘through an overdose of paracetamol’ and was admitted to the accident and emergency department of the hospital and put on 24/7 suicide watch.
The victim subsequently carried out interviews with Tusla and specialist gardaí where she revealed the abuse she had suffered. The court heard that during every offence, Walsh would be positioned behind the victim, pull her pants and underwear down and assault her.
She said her earliest memory of the abuse took place in the bedroom of Walsh, where he made her stand against his bed before pulling down her pants and underwear. She said he would make her look at a magazine with ‘cars and naked women’ in it and that he would ‘press against her’ as he was masturbating.
Another offence happened in Walsh’s sitting room, behind the couch, whilst they were watching a DVD. On another occasion in Walsh’s car, the victim would sit on his knees and she would steer the car as he pulled her pants down and assault her.
The court heard that similar instances took place in the woods near Walsh’s home after he told the victim he had built a treehouse, as well as behind a shed at his home.
After Walsh was arrested he made no admission to the crimes and at the original trial in July, pleaded not guilty to the six charges before being re-arraigned and pleading guilty.

Stolen childhood
IN her victim impact statement, the girl said that she hopes she can ‘somehow try and rebuild my broken life’ after what she has experienced. She said one of the most difficult things was the stress and embarrassment of trying to explain to her family what she experienced and that when she did, she wanted to end her own life.
“I felt so much fear that the shame Mark Walsh inflicted on me would not be believed by the people most important to me … I completely blamed myself and the impact that this coming to light would have on my parents, siblings and other family members.
“The following day my feeling of hopelessness, embarrassment and guilt were so overwhelming I felt I could no longer live with myself and I attempted to take my own life.
“Following this I was placed on 24/7 suicide watch and anything I could potentially use to harm myself had to be removed from our home by my devastated family. I was placed on anti-depressants, which I still use, and attended counselling for two years, as well as anxiety medication and sleeping tablets.”
The girl said her mental health has not been the same since and she lost the ‘happy, care-free person’ she once was. She said her education suffered greatly through her Leaving Certificate and resulted in her dropping out of her dream college course. She said she could not be alone or even leave the house to go to work out of fear she would see Walsh, and to this day now finds it very hard to trust people.
“The sexual abuse had an enormous impact on every aspect of my life and I will never be able to forgive Mark …  he took my innocence, my happiness and even my will to live.”

‘Lost his way’
Defence counsel for Walsh, Mr Desmond Dockery SC, said his client – who has no previous convictions – offers his ‘unreserved apology’ for a his actions in which no apology can do it justice. Mr Dockery said his client ‘had lost his way’ at the time of the incidents.
He referred to a psychological report and a probation report carried out on his client which stated he has persistent physical and physiological issues and that he has suffered depression since he was 18 that is a result of his realisation of what he committed.
He said his client experienced abuse for a short time, but that the perpetrator has since passed away and the death caused much upset and trauma for him.
The report stated his client has a ‘low average rate of intellectual ability’ with a ‘moderate risk of re-offending’. The probation report stated that Walsh ‘lacks the requisite desirable degree of empathy’.
He said his client comes from an ‘outstanding family’ who are shocked at Walsh’s conviction. He said his client is ‘essentially a good person who did very bad things’.

‘Grim’
JUDGE Rory McCabe described the case as ‘grim’ and said the victim impact statement ‘speaks for itself’.
He raised his concerns over the ‘lack of insight and empathy for the victim’ as referenced in the reports. He highlighted that the ‘guilt and shame’ mainly focused on the impact to himself and not his victim.
In considering his verdict and taking all the mitigating and aggravating factors into account, Judge McCabe said a concurrent sentence of five years for each offence would be appropriate.
He suspended the final year of the sentence and ordered that Walsh undergoes two-year post release supervision from the probation services, whilst availing of all treatment during his sentence.