A 34-year old man has been charged with sexually assaulting a 16 year old girl in Fermoy on Monday afternoon.
Kamil Szymczack appeared before the Mallow District Court today where it was alleged that he sexually assaulted a teenager at lunchtime at Chapel Hill in the Co Cork town.
The hill is just metres away from St Patrick’s Church in Fermoy and two schools are nearby.
Szymczak, originally from Poland, has been resident in Ireland for almost a decade, the court heard.
Judge Alec Gabbett was told that the accused is currently seeing a doctor and a psychiatrist for serious drug and alcohol addiction issues.
Detective Garda David Forsythe said that Szymczak made no reply to gardaí when he was arrested, cautioned and charged at Fermoy Garda Station.
The accused was assisted by a Polish interpreter during the court hearing.
Ssymczak was arrested by gardaí on Monday evening and questioned at Fermoy Garda Station before being charged.
Sergeant Linda O’Leary said that gardai were making serious objections to bail on the basis of the serious nature of the charge, the potential sentence involved, the fact a juvenile was involved as well as other legal issues.
Defence solicitor, Ciaran O’Keeffe, seeking bail for his client, asked Det Garda Forsythe whether the matter before the court could be described as a “stupid incident” and “at the lower end of the scale.”
However, in denying bail, Judge Gabbett told the court, that the accused “went up behind a juvenile, and tried to forcibly remove her undergarments – it is alleged. I don’t see how you could not see that as serious?”
He remanded Szymczak to appear again before Mallow District Court on February 15 next by video-link, and granted a defence application for free legal aid.
The judge also directed that nothing should be published which could identify the teenage girl in the case.