A man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for child sex offences at a Midlands GAA club.
He appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly at Longford Circuit Court yesterday, where it was heard the sentence would be served consecutively to a sentence previously imposed for other sexual offences.
The man (44), who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims, was in his 20s at the time of the commission of the offences and was charged with nine counts of gross indecency with a child aged between 11 and 13 years, under section 4 of the Criminal Law Act 1993.
The accused was initially charged with sexual assault, but entered a guilty plea to three counts of gross indecency on an amended indictment.
The court heard that the offences took place over the course of one year and five months, from early 2005 to mid 2006, with one count of gross indecency taking place every two months on the premises of a midlands GAA club.
All counts on the indictment related to the same child, who was being abused over the same period of time by another man on the same GAA grounds. This man was the primary abuser and has been dealt with before the courts.
Detective Garda Damien McGovern told state prosecutor Shane Geraghty BL and the court that the accused started abusing the injured party midway through the period of sexual assault he was suffering at the hands of the other man. Judge Kenneth Connolly, having heard the evidence, said that the offences were a case of "truly horrible timing" as the accused was simultaneously abusing another boy.
He noted mitigating factors, such as the plea of guilty, the deteriorating health of the accused, an apology and expression of remorse for his offending, and the fact the accused himself suffers PTSD as a result of sexual abuse inflicted on him.
With mitigation, he proceeded to impose a sentence of 18 months on one count of gross indecency. The other two counts to which the accused pleaded guilty were marked taken into consideration. That sentence is to be served consecutively to the nine years the accused is currently serving.
Judge Connolly also suspended the final six months of the sentence for 18 months, with a condition that the accused engage with probation services to identify appropriate counselling services that might be available to deal with his PTSD.
