Man, 42, jailed for abuse of teenager

A man who was convicted of kidnapping a child in London has been jailed for the abuse and rape of a teenage boy in Dublin the mid-90s.

The 42-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape and sexual assault of the boy at a location in Dublin on dates between June and September 1994.

The victim was aged 13 at the time and the man was 19.

The court heard that the man, who has a former address in County Wexford, was abused himself as a child and later went on to work as a ‘rent boy’.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed a sentence of seven years imprisonment. He also ordered that the man be subject to five years of post release supervision.

He said he was taking the man’s guilty plea and genuine remorse into consideration.

The man has 28 previous convictions including a conviction at the Old Bailey in London for kidnapping a male under the age of 14.

Detective Garda Gabriel Duffy told Patrick McGrath SC, prosecuting, that the accused moved into the same house as the boy and became friends with the boy’s mother.

During a visit by the boy to the man’s room he molested the boy, gave him money and warned him not to tell anyone what happened.

The man raped the boy twice during two subsequent incidents. He threatened to tell his mother that the child was smoking hash if he reported the abuse.

During the third attack the boy protested and the man punched him in the head.

While this evidence was given in court the man shouted: ‘I talked him into it, there was no violence used.’ He repeated several times that there had not been any violence.

Justice Patrick McCarthy said that the fact that he found himself working as a prostitute was a matter of great sadness, the Irish Independent reports.

He was arrested for the offences after the victim made a complaint to gardaí. He initially denied all allegations but he later showed genuine remorse for his actions, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement, the boy said that the emotional trauma of the event had plagued him throughout his life. He said he was unable to be a father figure to his own children and had given up on life.

Sean Gillane SC, defending, said that his client had been ‘effectively homeless’ since his teenage years and had suffered from chronic alcoholism.

Mr Justice McCarthy said that the fact that the man was a victim of child abuse himself did not excuse his actions but it was a factor in assessing his moral culpability. He said the abuse he suffered may have dulled his understanding.

He ordered the man be registered as a sex offender.