Cork man jailed seven years for sexual offences against girl, 14, he drugged
Oisín White, 33, was sentenced at Cork Circuit Criminal Court for ten counts of sexual offences against a teenager he had plied with Xanax and cannabis.
Cork man sentenced for drugging and sexually abusing 14-year-old girl
A 33-year-old man has been jailed for seven and a half years — with the last 18 months suspended — after pleading guilty to ten counts of sexual offences against a girl who was 14 when the abuse began, irishexaminer.com reports.
Judge Helen Boyle imposed the sentence on Oisín White at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, following a case in which the victim believed at the time that she was in a consensual "relationship" with the then 26-year-old man.
The court heard that White provided the girl with Xanax and cannabis before intercourse. It was only as she grew older, Judge Boyle noted, that she came to understand the full extent of the manipulation she had been subjected to.
Detective Garda Mary Bridget Enneguess investigated the case and told the court that the contact between the parties began on Snapchat and continued from April to November 2020, when White was aged 26 and 27 and the injured party was 14 and 15.
The abuse came to light after the girl's parents discovered she was not at the friend's house where she claimed to be staying. They located her at a restaurant with White, and she disclosed that she had engaged in sexual intercourse with him the previous night. Her parents brought her to a sexual assault treatment unit.
A solicitor's letter was subsequently sent to White on behalf of the girl's parents, instructing him to cease all contact and making her age explicitly clear. Despite this, White and the teenager continued to meet and to engage in sexual intercourse.
White pleaded guilty to three counts of engaging in a sexual act with a child under 15 and seven counts of engaging in a sexual act with a child under 17. The two age categories reflect the fact that the girl was 14 at the outset and had turned 15 by the time the offending ended.
Judge Boyle declined to use the word "relationship" without qualification, referring instead to a "so-called relationship" throughout proceedings. The victim impact statement was submitted to the court but was not read aloud.
Defence senior counsel Donal O'Sullivan told the court that White had initially claimed during garda interview that he believed the girl to be older, but acknowledged that he was fully aware of her age once the solicitor's letter arrived. White had no previous convictions. O'Sullivan added that his client had since entered a relationship with another person and that they have a child together.
In sentencing, Judge Boyle identified the significant age gap and the administration of drugs as aggravating factors. "It is clear that she realises she was taken advantage of and it completely changed her life," the judge said. "She still suffers panic attacks and has a big fear of being taken advantage of again."
Judge Boyle also cited the probation report, which found that White "struggles to fully connect with the harm caused to the victim or grasp the extent of your offending."
The court prohibited publication of the injured party's identity and of the defendant's home address.
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)