A Romanian national with a previous conviction for sexual assault has been jailed for 19 years for the rape of a woman returning home from a night out.
Liviu Tenea posed as a taxi driver, who drove the woman to a dark, remote location before “brutally” raping her. It emerged in court that Tenea had been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Spain back in 2006 for a similar sexual assault, however he was repatriated to his native Romania in 2010.
Five years later, in 2015, he was released and later came to Ireland, where he was working at a takeaway restaurant.
The 40-year-old, with an address in Academy Square, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of the woman at a location in Leinster in March 2022.
The court heard from prosecuting counsel that the victim of the sex assault wished to remain anonymous, but did not object to Tenea being named in the case. Handing down sentence on Monday, Justice Mary Ellen Ring described the “brutal” sexual assault perpetrated by Tenea as “every woman’s nightmare.”
After the woman had gotten into what she believed to be a taxi, she realised that the car was travelling in the wrong direction home. She told the driver, who had a said he was going to bring her home. She recalled how she froze in fear as it dawned on her that she was “in trouble.”
During the trial, a prosecuting garda gave evidence that the victim had been returning home from a night out and had attempted to flag down a taxi. Tenea’s car pulled up, and she assumed it was a taxi and got in.
Tenea drove the woman to an isolated location, and he got out of the car before “pulling her” from the passenger seat. The court heard that the woman begged him, “Please don’t go this” but he threw her onto the car bonnet. He then penetrated the victim with his penis vaginally and anally.
The woman said Tenea was very rough and violent, and that she was unable to fight back because she was pinned against the car.
“She described screaming with the pain, crying and being unable to stop what was happening.
Tenea then got back in the car and drove off, leaving her at the scene. The woman was found by an actual taxi driver passing through the area. She was brought home and later attended at the garda station,” The Sunday World today reported.
Justice Ring, sentencing, said the victim had “done nothing wrong” adding that she had done “what many women around the country do every night – trust what they believe to be a legitimate taxi driver” who will bring them home safe, adding that the woman had “done nothing wrong.”
She said that Tenea’s previous conviction for sexual assault was an aggravating factor, saying that his precious 20-year sentence “signifies a serious crime.”
The judge also pointed out that she couldn’t overlook Tenea’s initial attempts to put blame on the victim, having earlier told gardai that she had propositioned him.
She sentenced him to 19 years, backdated to the date he had gone into custody in March 2022. In addition, she ordered him to 10 years of supervision post release.
Gardai’s investigation saw them examine CCTV footage which showed the woman leaving a bar at 1am “visibly unsteady” on her feet, and the man’s car across the road.
The court heard that Tenea had been seen on CCTV circling the town in his car, and drove past the woman a number of times. The court heard that he was “focused in” on the woman before he finally pulled up and picked her up. Gardaí noted the car’s registration, and identified the takeaway worker.
Tenea had lived in Ireland for a number of years, and is believed to have entered the Republic via Northern Ireland in March 2022. His previous conviction in Spain was for the sexual assault of a minor, which led to a 20-year prison sentence.
The victim attended a sexual assault treatment centre, where staff noted bruising consistent with the nature of the described attack. Samples of semen taken from the woman matched Tenea, leading to his arrest. When arrested, Tenea claimed he had come across the woman at traffic lights and she had requested a lift home. He falsely claimed that she propositioned him, and denied penetrative intercourse.
The Sunday World reports that the Gardai informed the court that the Tenea’s prior conviction in 2006 shared similarities, with the victim having been approached, knocked unconscious and raped in a remote location.
The Romanian National left school aged 16, the court heard, after which he worked as a labourer and completed compulsory military service, before moving to a Spain. Following his release from prison in 2015, he moved to the U.K. before coming to Ireland – where he was joined by his partner and two children in late 2021.
The Judge, in her sentencing, said she had taken into consideration a letter of apology from Tenea, along with a letter from his partner.
Giving her victim impact statement to the court, the woman said that she had been someone with joy in her heart but that the “horrific” and “violent” sexual assault had “put fear into her” that has not left her.
She recalled how she had been relieved to see a car she thought was a taxi pull up, telling the court in an address to her attacker: “You disguised yourself as someone who would take me home safe but had other unimaginable plans.”
“The events of that horrific night have shaken me to the core,” she said, adding that she feared she would be killed that night.
She detailed the physical effects of the assault, telling the court that she has been left in a state of constant fear, and is broken and afraid in the aftermath of the traumatic assault.
Ms Justice Ring expressed the court’s well wishes for the woman and for her continued recovery, as she handed down a 22 year sentence on each count.