Sexual assault was a ‘slow-motion horror’, Cork court hears

A Leaving Cert student’s sexual assault approximately 10 years ago was described by the woman yesterday as a “a slow-motion horror”.

“The night you attacked me shattered my life in ways I could never have imagined,” she said.

“After what you did to me, everything I had worked for, every dream, every goal, was destroyed.

“Retelling my trauma became its own form of torment, a neverending cycle of pain that left me gasping for relief, but none came… I felt like I was living in a nightmare that wouldn’t end, a slow-motion horror I couldn’t escape.

“I felt like I was drowning in a hell of your making, trapped in my own mind with no way out.

“You were someone I trusted to have in my home and also to be around me when I was in a vulnerable state. You abused that trust when you abused me in my home, which has never felt the same since.”

She said she had failed suicide attempts and could not escape the mental torment and nightmares. She worried about how she would be made to look in a court case and referred to the “nonsense” involved in the process.

“I know the system is changing and I hope it continues to do so to be more supportive of people when they come forward with this kind of crime — it needs to be,” she said. 

“I really appreciate the kindness, sensitivity, and respect shown to me along the way by the different professionals involved.”

Evidence

She was particularly appreciative of the care shown by Detective Garda Craig Peterson who investigated the case and gave evidence yesterday of what occurred.

The victim woke to find the defendant with his hand inside her clothes near her vagina and she brushed his hand away, fell back to sleep, and the next morning she told her mother, brother, and a friend what happened.

Alice Fawsitt, senior counsel, submitted that: “They had both been at an 18th birthday party, they had a lot to drink, there was weed consumed, and four of them went back to her house.

“He is now married, living and working outside of Ireland now.

“He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault.

“There was phone communication between the defendant and her brother in which he apologised for what he had done.

“And he apologised to her by Facebook message to her brother. Both mothers met and he apologised again.”

Disgusted

In a letter, the defendant said: “I realised how serious this was the next morning. I felt disgusted.

“I felt too ashamed to look at her in the eye. I was drunk but that is no excuse. I felt scared of myself — to think of what I could do. I am not asking for forgiveness, I just want my apology to be heard.”

Ms Fawsitt said: “He made a full apology, he was 18, there was drink and drugs involved.

“If he had been dealt with at the time he would have been dealt with as an 18-year-old [for an offence] at the lower end of the scale. If this was dealt with then this would all be over with.

“He, too, has been living with this.”

Judge Helen Boyle said after hearing the evidence: “It is my intention to consider this case of two young people. I want to think about it. I am going to adjourn it to February 26.

“In the meantime, I am going to remand him in custody.”