A 16-YEAR-OLD boy who raped a 15-year-old girl at a teenage house party in Dublin last year has been sentenced to six years’ detention with the final three years suspended.
The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the girl in a bedroom on March 5th, 2011. He had no previous convictions and was also 15 years old at the time of the rape.
Sean Gillane SC, defending, had submitted that the Children Act 2001 indicates that a period of detention should be imposed on a child only as a measure of last resort and only when the court is satisfied there is no other way to deal with the child.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said the offence was a “full-blown vaginal rape” and that the provisions of the Children Act could not save the accused from a custodial sentence. He noted that both parties were very drunk at the house, with the accused claiming huge alcohol consumption as well as taking hash. He commented in mitigation that there had been a lack of appropriate adult supervision of both the accused and victim.
Mr Justice Carney took into account the aggravating factors, including the effect on the victim and the condition the accused had got himself into by drug-taking and the playing of a drinking game. He noted the mitigating factors such as the boy’s genuine remorse and suspended the final three years of the detention.
The girl said she had found preparing a victim impact statement difficult. “I did not ask for any of this and I really want it to be over,” she said in the statement, which was read in court.
She said it still felt as if the offence had happened yesterday. She described how she had been in shock for weeks afterwards and had suffered panic attacks.
The girl said she had asked her parents if they could move out of the area as she can see things which remind her of the attack. She said she had also suffered health problems.
Garda Adrian O’Sullivan told John Quirke, prosecuting, that the girl and boy had attended a teenage house party. The group had put in €5 each to buy alcohol and about 20 people aged between about 15 and 19 were at the house.
During the evening the young woman drank four bottles of Budweiser and was becoming noticeably drunk. She went upstairs to a bedroom at about 2am to go to sleep. The girl said the accused came into the room shortly afterwards and pulled down her trousers. She said she told him to stop and he replied: “This is what you want.” The girl said she was crying and calling her friends but the music in the house was very loud.
The boy had sex with her despite her telling him to get away. She was in pain and did not know how long it lasted. Afterwards the boy pulled up his trousers and left.
Immediately afterwards other teenagers at the party became aware that something was wrong and went to the next-door neighbour’s house to fetch an adult.
The next-door neighbour told gardaí a girl had knocked on her door at about 4am and asked her to come to the house.
She said the victim told her the boy had forced himself on her but she did not wish to tell her mother because she was afraid she would be angry at her for drinking. The woman took the girl into her house and rang the Rape Crisis Centre and a community garda.
The neighbour rang the girl’s parents and her husband went to the boy’s parents’ house to let them know what had happened.
The woman said the boy told her that if he had done anything to the girl he was sorry. Later that day the accused boy and his parents went to a local Garda station.
The boy told gardaí he had sex with a girl at the party the night before and initially said he did not know if she had consented. He later admitted that the girl had said “no” as he put his penis inside her. Gardaí asked him if he took advantage of the girl or thought she would not struggle and he said “Yes”. He agreed he was at least reckless about whether or not she had consented.
Garda O’Sullivan agreed with Mr Gillane that the boy initially had some difficulty in indicating what had happened but ultimately told gardaí the girl had said stop and did not consent.