Man jailed for rape of teenager in Waterford
The sentence hearing took place at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court at Waterford Courthouse
A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to over five years in prison for raping a teenage girl in Waterford.
Jack Jennings, of Cloontumper, Bekan, Claremorris, Co Mayo, raped a teenager in the back of his car on a date in September 2023.
The teenager had physically and verbally rejected his advances, but he proceeded to rape her without a condom.
Jennings was sentenced at Waterford Central Court by Judge Caroline Biggs, who summarised the details of the case.
At the outset of the hearing, Judge Biggs confirmed that Jennings could be identified while the victim wished to retain her anonymity.
The victim and Jennings had been messaging each other via a social media platform in the weeks before the incident.
On the night of the rape, the teenager had attended a party for her friend where people were drinking. After a few drinks at a house, the party moved on to a pub.
Jennings messaged her asking if she wanted to go on a drive in his car.
She accepted and they left the pub. He told her to get into the backseat after which he drove them to a nearby sports pitch.
Jennings parked and got into the backseat, where the two began kissing. Jennings asked her if she ‘wanted to go further’ to which she replied: ‘I don’t know about that’.
She moved her body away from his towards the car door window.
He told her to take off her clothes. When she refused saying, ‘I can’t do that’, he grabbed her underwear, pulled it to the side and forcibly penetrated her.
He spat on his penis several times and said to her, ‘you know you want it’.
She said: “Not really.”
After he ejaculated, he grabbed a cloth from his car floor, handed it to her and told her to ‘wipe it off’.
Judge Biggs said in the sentencing hearing: “Her decisions were taken away from her.”
After raping her, Jennings dropped her off at the pub where the party was still going.
The girl met the mother of her friend and gave her a ‘brief rundown’ on what had just happened.
The girl’s friend could see her visibly distressed and knew that something serious had occurred.
The following Monday, she told her schools’ Chaplain about the rape.
The Chaplain had told the court that the victim was composed at first but began crying when she realised that she had to tell her parents about what had happened.
After undergoing a specialist Gardaí interview, the girl was treated at the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU).
Medical documents revealed injuries to her genitals, and ‘significant’ bruising to her chest, neck and breasts.
During the rape, Jennings had bitten her on her body.
She had told the Court she had never had sex before and when he raped her, she was "scared and frozen" and "didn’t know what to do".
Forensic specialists found sperm on the victim’s underwear matching Jenning’s DNA profile.
Over the last three years, the case went to trial on two occasions. Jennings denied raping her and claimed that any sexual activity between them was consensual.
In sentencing, Judge Biggs put forward a headline sentence of seven years. She reduced the sentence to five years and three months in mitigation.
Jennings had no previous convictions and had a work history as an apprentice butcher. He also volunteered at his local Foróige group.
Jennings will spend 12 months under probation supervision post-release from prison.
Judge Biggs emphasised that the victim had never had sex before the rape and was exposed to STD’s and pregnancy by Jennings.
Judge Biggs commented: “She placed trust in him, that trust was breached.”
In her victim impact statement, the teen said that Jennings had turned her life "upside down".
The rape impacted her relationships with her family and friends and caused her extreme stress and anxiety. The girl struggles daily with anxiety and depression. In the immediate aftermath of the rape, she had to miss time out of school during her Leaving Cert year.
The thought of putting on a school skirt caused her tremendous fear.
Eventually, she made her into third-level education and is currently studying to work in healthcare.
After the sentence was passed, Judge Biggs praised the victim for her bravery in reporting Jennings, stating that were it not for her bravery, "these kinds of cases could not be prosecuted".
“I wish you the very best," she said.
