The 23 year old man pleaded guilty to defilement of a child.
A young man has been jailed for four years for the defilement of a child earlier this year.
The Central Criminal Court heard that the now 23-year-old man pleaded guilty to one count of defilement of a child under the age of 17 on February 16, 2025, at a location in Co Westmeath.
At the time of the offence, the injured party was aged sixteen and the defendant was days shy of his twenty-third birthday.
He has no previous convictions.
The court heard that on the day in question, the injured party went shopping in the local shopping centre and was due to get the 5.30 bus home.
At the bus stop, she met the defendant and one of his friends.
They struck up a conversation, and the defendant asked the girl her age.
She replied 16.
The two men then left and went to a nearby off-licence.
A short time later, the men returned with a bottle of alcohol and gave the young girl some.
They boarded the bus, and the defendant told the girl that he had just broken up with someone and was looking for a “rebound.”
The injured party and the defendant got off the bus, and the alcohol “hit” the young girl.
The two began kissing, and the girl fell unconscious due to intoxication.
Her next memory was waking up in the hospital.
The injured party’s mother became worried for her daughter when she did not return home, and at 10.30 pm she called the gardai.
The gardai located the girl near her home in a highly intoxicated state.
She had cuts to her hands, and an ambulance was called.
The girl was also examined at a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit.
Gardai obtained CCTV footage, and the young girl could be seen stumbling in an intoxicated state with the defendant carrying her across the road.
He was identified by CCTV footage and was arrested and interviewed.
He gave the gardai an outline of events that was broadly in line with what the young woman had told them.
A victim impact statement was read to the court, which spoke of the fear and anxiety she had experienced.
The girl outlined that she had lost her self-worth and feels a strong sense of blame.
The court heard that the defendant arrived in Ireland in June 2024 seeking asylum.
At the time of this offence, he was living in an IPAS Centre.
A probation report before the court stated that the defendant has taken full responsibility for his actions and is deeply ashamed.
The maximum sentence available to the court is seven years.
Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Melanie Greally said, the aggravating factors in this case were the quantity of alcohol given to the injured party, that she was extremely intoxicated and that he did not seek medical attention for her when she became unconscious.
She said this offence fell into the upper range and set a headline sentence of 80 months.
Judge Greally said she would consider the following as mitigating factors: his early guilty plea, his cooperation, his age at the time, his lack of any previous convictions, and his showing remorse and shame for his actions.
The judge said that the absence of any family members in this country would make a prison term very lonely.
The defendant has also consented to his deportation upon his release from prison.
Judge Greally sentenced the defendant to four years in prison, backdated to when he went into custody.
The judge spoke directly to the injured party and said, “This was in no way your responsibility,” and wished her well for the future.
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