Man (60s) raped vulnerable teenage boy on beach

A man who raped a 16-year-old boy on a Waterford beach after meeting him on a dating app has been jailed for four years.

Neil Elliott (63), of Milestone Cottage, Cheekpoint, Waterford, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to section four oral rape of the boy, who was under the care of the State at the time, on August 8, 2022 in Tramore, Waterford. Further charges of anal rape and oral rape were taken into account.

Garda Edel O’Sullivan told Maddie Grant BL, prosecuting, that gardaí were contacted at 9.30pm on the evening in question by social care workers who were responsible for the teenager that weekend while they were at a caravan park.

They said he had left the holiday home in a distressed state and they were concerned for his well being.

Gardaí arrived 30 minutes later and after a short search of the local area, they met Elliott and the teenager walking up the beach. They identified themselves to gardaí and the teenager said he was fine, while Elliott told him they were friends and had been out walking.

The teenager was returned to the care of his social workers and immediately reported that he had engaged in oral sex with Elliott. He said he had told the accused he was 16, while Elliott later claimed he believed the teenager was 17 years old.

The teenager said he had been on a dating app and had met with Elliott. They had sent photographs to each other and had been communicating for a short period of time. He had got a text from Elliott that day asking if they could meet up.

The teenager later said to gardaí he told Elliott “no” during the sexual interaction with him. He said he “almost passed out” during the anal rape and said he did try to tell Elliott “no” but he didn’t stop.

He claimed that he told Elliott he was 16 and the accused replied: “It was OK as long as you are nearly 17.” 

He said Elliott told him: “I am not going to stop – you are a good boy.”

Elliott was arrested that same evening. He provided his mobile phone number, email address and relevant passwords. He has no previous convictions.

A victim impact statement was read into the record.

The complainant said that after the incident he felt “dirty, used and violated” and described it having a physical and mental impact on him. He said he turned to drugs and drink and later was diagnosed as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

He said he won’t go anywhere on his own, adding: “I should have been in a safe place.” 

“I hope he gets what he deserves and he doesn’t do this to anyone else,” the victim concluded his statement.

Colman Cody SC, defending, acknowledged that there was a disparity in age between the accused and the teenager. He further acknowledged that the victim was “vulnerable in the care system” but he told the court that Elliott said he was not aware the teenager was under State care at the time.

Mr Cody said the teenager initiated contact and accepted that Elliott maintained that contact and arranged the meeting.

Counsel accepted his client made no admissions during garda interview but asked the court to accept that he co-operated with the gardaí.

He further accepted that the victim was waiting some time before it was confirmed that Elliott was going to plead guilty.

Counsel said his client had written a letter of apology to the victim in which he said he was sorry for putting the teenager through this and apologised for the fact that the teenager “got caught up with my life at the time”.

Mr Cody handed in a forensic psychological report for the court’s consideration. He said his client had an unremarkable childhood and had a consistent history of employment.

He said Elliott never had a significant relationship and was attracted to both men and women. He said he had been caring for his mother for eight years before she died. He then began to engage in online communication with others, which he found helped to alleviate his grief.

Mr Cody said Elliott accepts that it was not appropriate for a man in his 60s to communicate with a teenager.

“It was a catastrophic error of judgement,” Mr Cody said.

Counsel said his client has no history of violence, no convictions for sexual offences and does not have difficulties with empathy. He said he has been assessed as a “low average risk of re-offending”.

Mr Justice Paul Burns noted that while the teenager claimed to be 18 years old in order to access the dating app, his bio on that app clearly stated that he was 16 years old. He said anyone accessing the app would have known the true age of the teenager.

He set a headline sentence of eight years taking into account the fact that Elliott would have been aware of the young age of the complainant and that he subjected him to “a rough and aggressive ordeal involving both anal and oral rape”.

Mr Justice Burns also noted that from Elliott’s appearance in court he was a “relatively well built man” which he said was a consideration in the context of the offending behaviour also.

He acknowledged that Elliott’s plea of guilty was “valuable” as it saved the victim the ordeal of “an unpredictable trial process” and that it also recognises the harm his behaviour has caused to the victim.

Mr Justice Burns also acknowledged that Elliott was deemed to be below average risk of re-offending, has no history of engagement with minors and that custody would be a particularly difficult time for him given his age and mental health difficulties.

He imposed a sentence of five years with the final year suspended on strict conditions, including that Elliott engage with the Probation Service for three years upon his release from prison. He said due to this supervision order there is no need for the imposition of additional post release supervision.