A teenager who raped and sexually abused his eight-year-old half-sister has been ordered to reside away from his parents as part of a suspended sentence.
The 16-year-old pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to five counts of oral rape and 44 counts of sexual assault between September 2016 and January 2017.
The teenager cannot be named to protect his identity and that of his half-sister. The abuse took place in the Munster area.
Mr Justice Michael White sentenced the teenager to five years of detention but suspended the entirety of the sentence for a period of five years on condition that he follow the directions of the Probation Service, keep the peace and be of good behaviour for five years.
Mr Justice White also made it a condition of the sentence that the teenager reside away from his parents for a period of time recommended by NIAP, an inter-agency project that treats adolescents who sexually abuse.
He said that condition will still apply when the teenager turns 18. He also ordered that the teenager take part in a treatment program to educate him on the consequences of his offending behaviour.
Website
The Central Criminal Court heard previously that the boy told gardaíhe had been copying what he saw on a pornographic website, PornHub.
A garda told Imelda Kelly BL, prosecuting, that in January 2017, the teenager’s mother walked into her living room to discover her son inappropriately touching her daughter’s genitals.
The teenager was 14 at the time and his half-sister was aged eight. His mother made a complaint to gardaí and the teenager was arrested.
During interviews with gardaí, the teenager admitted removing his half-sister’s clothes and masturbating. He said he penetrated her vagina with his fingers and placed his penis in her mouth. He also said he rubbed his penis on her vagina and anus, but denied penetration.
The court previously heard evidence from psychologist Linda Cooney from NIAP, who told the court that the boy moved out of his mother’s house, where his half-sister lives, immediately after the abuse was discovered.
He is currently living with his father, but Ms Cooney said this emotional environment was not adequate to allow him to undergo successful psychological treatment. She said the boy had below average abilities in perspective taking, making it hard for him to understand the impact of the abuse on his half-sister.
Ms Cooney said the teenager was motivated to get help, but needed a care-giver who could be emotionally available and supportive to him for the next two years of treatment.
Anger
Ms Cooney said she had concerns that the boy did not feel safe and had spoken about his father’s anger, saying he needed to be careful and that “as long as you keep your mouth shut, you’re grand”.
Ms Cooney said the boy’s father had demonstrated poor communication and coping skills and had walked out of meetings with psychologists.
The court heard that the boy’s mother was not ready for him to return to her house as she still felt very angry towards him, although she would like to build a relationship with him in the future.
In a victim impact statement previously read out in court, the mother of the injured party described the shock and horror she experienced upon discovering what her son had been doing to her daughter.
“My daughter’s innocence has been violated under the most cruel circumstances imaginable,” she said. “I am grieving on two fronts; for my daughter and for my lost son.”
She said that her daughter had nightmares and worried about her half-brother reappearing to follow through on threats he made during the abuse. She said she hoped her daughter had not been damaged beyond repair.