Victim support groups expressed their anger yesterday after a Cork sex offender, who is believed to be part of a paedophile ring, was jailed for six months for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy.
Patrick Collins (58), Belmont, Cobh, Co Cork, was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, with the last six months suspended, after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a seven-year-old boy on two occasions between 1992 and 1994.
The sentence will run consecutively to a 10-year jail sentence he received in 2001 for 18 sexual assaults and 22 buggery offences against four young boys.
The victims in the case were aged between six and 15 when the assaults occurred in the 1980s.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday that Collins was a serial abuser of young children.
Sgt John Quinn told the court that the former sailor was a member of a paedophile ring operating in the Cobh area.
He said Collins had never shown any remorse for his actions prior to his appearance in court yesterday.
The charges yesterday arose from the sexual abuse of a seven-year-old boy who was lured into the defendant's bedroom on the pretext of looking for rare coins. Collins went on to indecently assault the boy.
The second assault occurred at a beach in Cobh. The child made his escape by running into the sea.
The boy's father said his son spent much of his adolescence terrified of being on his own with men, adding that the family had to move to the UK to rebuild their lives.
"I was disgusted when I heard what had happened to my son. We had trusted Patrick Collins. But I am proud that my son had the courage to bring this matter to the gardaí."
Collins is the third member of a Cobh-based paedophile ring to be jailed.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin jailed Collins for a year, suspending six months. The sentence will begin when the accused completes his current 10-year term.
He warned the former merchant sailor to stay away from any employment which would bring him into contact with children following his release from custody.
He also ordered that Collins be included on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.