A man has been sentenced to three years in jail after he had sex with a 14-year-old girl who was in her school uniform when they met.
Neil Moore (36), described as homeless, admitted that he had sex with the girl twice but told gardaí it had been consensual.
Moore pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of having sex with a child under the age of 17 in the Phoenix Park and a city centre B&B on March 2nd and 3rd, 2012.
Chance meeting
Judge Mary Ellen Ring said she was satisfied it had been a chance meeting and there had been no predatory behaviour on behalf of Moore but she said he knew he was dealing with a young girl and ignored that. "The use of alcohol influenced his own judgment and made an already vulnerable young female even more vulnerable and the court cannot overlook that," the judge said.
She said the fact that he had sex with her twice "aggravated the element of recklessness in this case". "He was the adult in the situation and he knew that but he ignored it," Judge Ring said before she added that he had manipulated the situation.
On condition
She suspended the last 12 months of the sentence on condition that Moore engage with the Probation Service for 12 months upon his release and engage in any sexual offender programme they deem suitable.
Garda Ciarán McGeough told Róisín Lacey, prosecuting, that while the girl was wearing her school uniform at the time, she told Moore she was 17 when she first met him at Temple Bar.
Garda McGeough agreed with Caroline Biggs SC, defending, that it had been a chance meeting and Moore had not been patrolling the streets looking for underage girls to have sex with.
He accepted that the man “did not fit the profile of a paedophile” and he seemed genuinely sorry for his behaviour.