Lengthy prison sentence for man who raped 12-year-old boy at Dublin home three decades ago

A man has been jailed for seven and-a-half years for the rape of a 12-year-old, who was encouraged to visit his home by another man who it is also alleged sexually abused the boy.  

The 49-year-old man pleaded guilty to one count of anal rape and two counts of sexual assault at an address in County Dublin on dates during 1994 and 1995. The Central Criminal Court heard that the pleas were accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions on a full facts basis.

He can't be named to protect the anonymity of his victim, who was aged between 12 and 14 at the time. The defendant has five previous convictions, including for possession of and selling, distributing or advertising child sexual abuse material, known in law as child pornography.

In a victim impact statement, the injured party said his “essence” was taken following the rape. The statement outlined the emotional and psychological impacts on him. He said he was terrified to tell anyone, and this disconnected him from family, friends and himself.

He said he moved away but later returned to live in Ireland, and it was during an AA meeting, when someone else shared a similar experience, that he realised he was not alone.

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The injured party outlined that he is attending therapy and has completed a treatment programme for his addiction issues.

He said on the day of the plea, he felt his “essence and spirit” return.

Imposing sentence this Friday Mr Justice David Keane said the victim was a “young and vulnerable” child at the time, and that some of the offending occurred in a “cluster”.

The judge noted that the man was aged 18 to 19 at the time and said the court would “treat him as having no more maturity than others in that age group”.

He also noted the man's early guilty plea, co-operation with the investigation, background and other mitigating factors.

The judge imposed a global sentence of seven and a half years to reflect all of the man's offending.

He suspended the final 12 months of the sentence for two years and imposed a two-year post-release supervision order.

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The Central Criminal Court heard that the victim was also sexually abused by a third party before this offending occurred.

This third party told the boy that the defendant was involved in similar activities. The allegations against the third party are still under investigation by gardai, the court heard.

The court heard that the 12-year-old boy called to the defendant's house near to where he lived at the suggestion of the third party to ask for cigarettes.

The defendant told him that if he was willing to play a game, then he might get more than cigarettes, including alcohol and money.

The boy called again to the defendant's house and went inside to his bedroom. The man sexually assaulted the boy and afterwards told him not to tell anyone, before giving him a small sum of money.

The man sexually assaulted the boy for a second time after giving him poppers, which are not sedatives. Pornography was playing during both of these incidents, the court heard.

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In another incident, the man anally raped and sexually abused the boy, who again had taken poppers. The boy felt cold and in shock afterwards, and ashamed.

A final incident occurred sometime later, when the boy was 14. He called at the man's house after getting very drunk, and they went to a nearby field, where the man sexually assaulted him.

The boy moved abroad in his late teens and returned to Ireland when he was 20. He went to confront the defendant but did not say anything to him.

The injured party developed addiction issues. He told his mother he had been abused by two men in 2011 and later told his AA sponsor before making a formal complaint to the gardai in 2022.

When interviewed, the man admitted the offence and being aware of the boy's age, but denied giving him poppers. 

The man is a carer for his father. He has a work history, but is currently receiving disability benefits due to mental health issues.

Mr Justice Keane wished the injured party well in his continuing recovery.