Gardaí in Dundalk have launched a major investigation after a four-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by a stranger who attacked the child as he played in his garden. They have appealed for anybody who believes they know the culprit to come forward.
It appears that the man was passing by the boy's home and saw he was playing on his own and decided to assault him.
The attack was described as "deplorable" by a Garda source, who said it was hoped that DNA evidence taken during a medical examination of the boy would help to identify the man responsible.
The description the boy was able to give of the stranger was vague but sufficient for gardaí to be confident there is no connection between the attack and the attempted abduction last month of two girls in the Cox's Demesne area of the town.
The assault on the boy happened at around 6.30 p.m. on Friday.
Once his family became aware of what had happened, they alerted gardaí.
The child was taken to Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, where he was examined.
"Somebody in the community may know something about this, and we would appeal for anyone with information to contact us," a Garda spokesman in Dundalk said yesterday.
The incident has shocked the town and for the second time in as many months has put it in the national limelight as a place where it is not safe for children to be left unsupervised.
In August friends Kelly Mullen (9) and Ciara Brady (10) were the victims of an attempted abduction as they played on a green area beside where their families live and close to a busy shopping centre.
They said the ongoing search in Cambridgeshire at the time for schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman had made them realise how dangerous it was to talk to strangers.
The Garda investigation into that incident is continuing.
"This is a very sad reflection on the society we are living in when a four-year-old boy in his own garden is not safe from attack," said Mr Noel Lennon, chairman of Dundalk Town Council.
He said it re-emphasised the need for vigilance by parents and family members.
"It is a shame we cannot feel secure when a child is in his own garden," he added.