A man with a significant intellectual disability, who carried out a “horrific” sexual assault on a sleeping woman while binge-drinking, has been handed a five-year suspended sentence.
The accused, in his 20s, who cannot be identified, was warned he was obliged to remain under psychological supervision and sober for eight years.
“I don’t sleep in the dark now; I always have the light on,” were the words of the young woman as she recalled the night she was sexually assaulted after she fell asleep.
Her attacker entered a guilty plea earlier and appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday.
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The offence happened in the midlands in the early hours of December 27th, 2019, after the man, whose cognitive level is among the lowest one per cent of the general population, had been drinking.
Finalisation of the case had been adjourned for updated probation and forensic psychological reports, and for the accused to bring €10,000 to court for the victim.
Judge Johnson heard the accused stopped abusing alcohol and the reports were positive. The accused engaged with his probation officer and a forensic psychologist to address his understanding of sexual behaviour, consent and relationships.
The judge ordered him to continue under probation supervision, not to consume alcohol, to remain employed or in an educational course and to have no contact with the victim or her family. The man will go on to the sex offenders register.
The judge stressed that this sentence was not a precedent that would be applied to similar crimes, but it was due to the exceptional and extraordinary circumstances related to the man’s cognitive ability.
A local garda gave evidence that the woman had been visiting family for Christmas and socialised on the night of St Stephen’s Day. Afterwards, she went to her brother’s home and fell asleep on a couch. The room was dark, and she woke up to find “someone was on her”.
She was unaware her brother had allowed the accused into his home after she had arrived and fallen asleep.
She had bruising and was bleeding. The attacker’s DNA, from his saliva, was detected on her underwear and vagina, the court heard.
When interviewed by gardaí, the accused admitted the allegations and told them he touched her inappropriately.
The woman did not have to testify or face cross-examination due to her abuser’s guilty plea but had provided a victim impact statement, read out in court three months ago.
The judge heard that when she woke up, she froze in fear and did not know how long the man had been violating her.
She opened up in the statement about how it made her struggle with guilt and self-blame: she no longer sleeps in the dark and is now a light sleeper.
She also suffered from flashbacks to past traumatic events, including childhood sexual abuse, which resulted in a relative being jailed.
In her statement, she said she hoped the accused learned about consent when he is around women.
The defence told the court that the man was remorseful, and the attack seemed opportunistic. Judge Keenan described it as a horrific assault.
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