'You exploited her': Man jailed for sexual activity with 15-year-old girl

A man who had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl — texting a friend to say: “She is about to become a woman” —was sentenced to seven years in prison with the final 18 months suspended.

Judge Helen Boyle imposed that sentence on 34-year-old Patrick Rodgers of Murmount Road, Mayfield, Cork, who pleaded guilty to the offence of engaging in sexual activity with a child under the age of 17.

The judge said that the child was intoxicated and vulnerable when she approached Mr Rodgers who was 31 at the time and she told him she was 15 and missing from home.

“You took her to your home and proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her… You dropped her off at a bottle bank and left her alone… There was an abundance of evidence that you did know what age she was…. This child who was lost, you exploited her in a cynical way. It is the most grave of this type of offence. You have a high level of culpability,” Judge Boyle said.

The judge noted that his plea of guilty spared the injured party a trial.

It was stated in background reports on the accused that after committing this crime he became depressed and suicidal. And he was willing to engage in a sexual offenders programme.

At Cork Circuit Criminal Court Detective Sergeant Clare Corcoran said that after the Mr Rodgers had sexual intercourse with the 15-year-old at his home he drove off to play golf, gave the victim a bottle of water and €10 and left her at a bottle bank — in the words of the victim — “like nothing had happened.”

Det Sgt Corcoran said the injured party had been drinking vodka on the day of the crime, had left home, got a bus to the outskirts of the city to an area with which she was unfamiliar and then walked in the wrong direction.

She approached a parked car for a light for a cigarette, announcing that she was 15-years-old and had left home. The passenger left the scene and the defendant drove her to his home, buying Monster energy drinks at a garage on the way.

He brought her to his bedroom and undressed her before having sexual intercourse with her on his bed, ejaculating on her back and wiping her with a towel, the detective sergeant testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Gardaí later investigating the crime examined his phone and found texts between himself and the passenger who had left the car earlier.

He sent his friend a picture of the girl drinking a mineral at his home. The friend texted: “Remember now, you lunatic, she is only 15.”

The defendant texted back: “I heard 18, she is about to become a woman.”

The teenager gave victim impact evidence recalling that she approached the car to get a lighter and she did not know the defendant. “He took me back to his house and when it was over he dropped me at the side of the road like nothing had happened.

“It has affected every part of my life that I never thought possible. The weight of it is overwhelming. More than once I attempted suicide. I lost a lot of friends. I felt like I was stuck in a place when everyone else was moving forward… I feel like I am trying to dig myself out of the same hole, with a feeling of worthlessness, feeling I am not good enough for anyone, lashing out at those closest to me.

“I feel I am always waiting for something bad to happen. I was always very bright and happy in school but (after this in May 2021) I was falling behind,” she said in a victim impact statement which she read in court.

Jane Hyland senior counsel said: “He is mortified at having engaged in this type of conduct. He found it difficult to accept almost that he had done this. He has expressed remorse very tangibly by pleading guilty and saving the victim re-traumatising that might come with a trial. He said he never intentionally set out to cause harm.”