A friend forwarded me a report from the Longford Leader this morning concerning a man who had appeared in the Longford District court “charged with two separate section two sexual assaults, on two separate dates and with two separate victims”.
The man, who cannot be named due to the nature of his offences, allegedly followed and sexually assaulted two young girls in separate incidents “in public and in broad daylight” last month, the court heard.
The girls were aged 18 and 15 at the time, and Garda Thomas Brennan of Mullingar Garda Station who gave evidence to the court said that they were terrified and felt violated by the alleged incidents.
Women already feel unsafe, particularly at night or when we’re walking on our own. If you’ve been assaulted in public in broad daylight, or you know that other girls in the town have been – especially by a repeat offender – then levels of trepidation and anxiety and fear will naturally increase.
In the very comprehensive court report the Longford Leader provides we learn that, having already allegedly sexually assaulted one girl on March 6th, the man observed “three females and took a shine to one of them. They walked into a restaurant and he followed them. They stood reading a menu and he stood very close to them”.
“He told one of the girls she was gorgeous and put one hand on her backside and the other hand on her hip. He admitted during interview, he was erect at the time. The girl was terrified,” the Garda said.
Both incidents were captured on CCTV, and the footage “shows the accused as described in the injured party statement”, the court heard. Garda Brennan explained that:
“He made admissions when interviewed on March 11, and I strongly believe he will continue to sexually assault young girls if granted bail.”
“He explained his urges to us and said he attempted to control them, but there were only two weeks between the alleged incidents and he has not controlled them.
“He admitted to following both injured parties on both dates through the town, and admitted to having an erection while following the 15-year-old girl. He can be seen on CCTV with his hand in his pants.”
Gda Brennan told the court that the accused also admitted having “numerous sexual urges every day with regard to this behaviour” and admitted his sexual attraction to young girls.
Solicitor for the defence, Mr Frank Gearty noted that “every sexual assault is heinous and a gross violation”, but suggested Gda Brennan had “unfortunately dealt with far more serious cases than this”.
“Well those young girls feel like this was a very serious violation on their person,” Gda Brennan replied.
Garda Brennan believes that the accused – given the statement that he made to Gardaí – would continue to sexually assault young girls if he was released on bail. His colleague, Sergeant Mark Mahon, addressing the judge said that it was a “worrying point” that the case involved “an adult male following female children around town”.
When Sergeant Mark Mahon, for the state, asked him why these alleged incidents were carried out, the accused said he was “sexually attracted to them”.
But despite the Garda objections, the accused was released on bail anyway. The accused was “ordered to attend his GP to seek a referral to local mental health services and to engage with treatment offered. He must provide evidence to Gardaí of his attendance with his GP within 24 hours of that attendance”.
How can we expect young women to believe that the legal system will protect them, when bail decisions like this are made?
The bigger picture here is that, as was written in this searing piece on Gript this week, we are inclined not to take sexual assault seriously enough. The damage that can be caused is not fully understood and often downplayed. There will always be weird, creepy, predatory people in the world. We have a right to be protected from them.
As Garda Brennan said: “those young girls feel like this was a very serious violation on their person”. How can granting bail be seen by these girls as anything but diminishment of the perceived harm?
The Garda told the court “that the accused also admitted having “numerous sexual urges every day with regard to this behaviour” and admitted his sexual attraction to young girls”. And the man had been already cautioned by Gardaí after the first alleged incident. What message is this sending to women and to young girls?
This man was granted bail despite, according to the Longford Leader, the judge overseeing the case saying that “she was satisfied the objection met the threshold section 2 of the Bail Act.” That section of the Bail Act states that “a court may refuse the application if the court is satisfied that such refusal is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person.” And yet, bail was still granted.
In isolation the granting of bail in this case is one thing, but frankly I’m just tired of the excuses when it comes to my right, the right of my daughters, and the right of every woman, to walk the streets without being sexually assaulted. I’m tired of seeing suspended sentences being handed down to sexual predators, and rapists getting less jail time than someone who sent in a fraudulent VAT return.
And I’m tired of sexual assault being dismissed as ‘not serious’ or ‘at the lower end’, when the rise in these offences and the persistence and brazenness of offenders is impacting on women’s safety and on our right not to feel afraid.
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