A 32 year old mildly mentally handicapped man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his six year old niece in a Dublin suburban field on August 2nd 1995, has been jailed for two years by Judge Gerard Buchanan.
While his parents were still standing by him, the defendant has lost the protection of the traditional close knit travelling community to which he belonged defence counsel Ms Karen O'Connor told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
He was illiterate and judged to be mildly mentally handicapped. He was also very remorseful for his actions and couldn't explain why he had done it except to say he had drunk nine cans of beer beforehand.
Garda Martha Francis told Ms Miriam Malone, prosecuting, that the defendant was minding the child while her parents were at a funeral. He bought 18 cans of beer with a friend and they each drank nine cans.
He fell asleep for a while and when he awoke, asked the girl to come with him to the shops. As they stopped in a field to look at horses, he struck her on the face and knocked her to the ground.
He removed his trousers and underclothes, lay on top of her and touched her private parts. When he got up, he warned her not to tell anyone about the incident and then walked away.
But when her parents came home the next day, the girl told them what had happened and with other relatives, they confronted the defendant.
He went to see the Garda and a few days later he was arrested and remanded in custody. He admitted the offence but denied he had threatened her with a knife he carried.