A Kildare man who had sex with a girl (13), believing her to be her 16-year-old sister, has avoided a jail term at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The now 21-year-old man, who had just turned 17 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to having sex with a child under the age of 17 at a house in a Kildare town on June 5th, 2010.
He has no previous convictions and is now registered as a sex offender.
The court heard that the girl had a contraceptive bar in her arm at the time, a fact known to the accused and his friends. She had also just had sex with the man's 15-year-old friend.
This boy was never prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and was dealt with under the Juvenile Liaison Scheme.
Judge Martin Nolan said the facts of the case were graphic, but he had to be fair to the man and take into account his age at the time, his plea of guilty, expression of remorse and the fact that a probation report put him at a low risk of re-offending.
"This conviction will blight him for some period," the judge said before he added that it is "a punishment in itself" to have such an offence on your criminal record.
He said, having considered the probation report before the court, that it gave him "great hope" this this was a one off event for the man.
"It is a tragic one for the victim but I believe it is one that he won't forget in a hurry," Judge Nolan said.
He imposed a one year jail term which he suspended in full - on condition that the man be of good behaviour and remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for a year.
Garda Eoin Dempsey agreed with Úna Ní Raifeartaigh SC, defending, that the girl had been engaging in sexual relations with other people at a local pitch earlier that night - and had disappeared under the stands with one of the boys.
He confirmed that the 15-year-old boy she had sex with, minutes before her client, had never been prosecuted.
Garda Dempsey accepted that the man genuinely believed the girl was her older sister and confirmed that another witness had told gardaí that she had given a false name to other teenagers on the night.
