Men of ‘no remorse’ jailed for sexual assault committed as teenagers on junior cert student
The men were sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Four boys, now men in their early 20’s, have been sentenced to 14 months in prison for their roles in sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2019.
One of the defendants was charged with false imprisonment, while the other three were charged with sexual assault.
The sentence marks the end of a seven-year ordeal for the victim and her family, as the perpetrators dragged the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which delayed any trial from taking place.
They were found guilty of sexual assault and false imprisonment after a trial at Waterford Circuit Court in July 2025. The four cannot be identified to protect the anonymity of their victim.
The assault occurred at a location in Waterford in 2019. The 15-year-old girl went into a structure to take a phone call during a break between two Junior Certificate exams. A group of boys were in the space and began taunting her. One of the perpetrators pulled down his pants and waved his penis around.
One boy blocked her exit from the structure, leaving her to be repeatedly groped and molested by the teenage boys. The assault lasted 15 to 20 minutes. She described: “I was made to feel like a monkey in a cage.”
The girl did not tell anyone about the assault until early 2020. Gardaí were later alerted to the assault and the teenage boys were questioned in August 2020.
For years the victim has suffered with self-loathing, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. In her victim impact statement given in December, she stated that the years of legal challenges and delays have had a detrimental effect on her.
“It simply hasn’t been worth it,” she said.
She has had to spend years of her life avoiding spaces out of fear of seeing her assailants.
In a lengthy summation, Judge Eugene O’Kelly stressed that had the trial taken place when the offenders were still under the age of 18, they may have been subject to the Children’s Act. However, with the defendants appealing the case to the High Court and Supreme Court, they aged out of the act. In one probation report, the accused continued to deny any responsibility for their own role in the assault.
Two of the accused have since received convictions for drug-driving and drug possession.
Judge O’Kelly repeatedly stated that none of the accused have accepted the jury’s verdict, thus hampering mitigation.
He said: “There has been no remorse or acknowledgement of guilt. Therefore, rehabilitation does not appear to be an issue in this case. There’s no acknowledgement of harm, [therefore] no reason to suspend any of the sentence imposed.”
They were each sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Three of the men will be on the Sexual Offenders Register for a period of two and a half years.
When a member of legal counsel requested a delay, Judge O’Kelly responded: “This matter has been delayed since 2019. I’m not going to extend that delay.”
The men were taken into custody.
In the aftermath of the sentencings, families of the defendants reacted strongly, shouting insults at the victim and slamming doors in the court. The victim was not present at the sentencing but her family were in attendance.
