A Central Criminal Court judge has said more conversations about consent are needed online, adding that “the days of she didn’t fight back, scream or run away have passed”.
Ms Justice Mary-Ellen Ring made the comments on Wednesday while imposing sentence on a 21-year-old man convicted of oral rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.
He was handed a three-year sentence with the final year suspended on strict conditions.
The offences took place in January 2022, when both the man and the victim were 17. They went together to a skatepark in Leinster, where there was some consensual kissing between them before the man carried out the offences.
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He continues to maintain his innocence and that there was consent to the sexual activity. He has no previous convictions and cannot be identified to protect the woman’s right to anonymity.
While finalising sentence, Ms Justice Ring said this was “sadly yet another case where there was a lack of knowledge or effective disregard of consent”.
“There continues to be no understanding that consent is an active discussion. Silence is not consent. Lack of resistance is not consent. Remaining in place is not consent.
“The days of she didn’t fight back, scream or run away have passed, and juries understand this even if perpetrators don’t.”
The judge noted that not enough conversations are taking place on social media about consent.
She highlighted that cases of this kind involving people under 18 result in “young lives broken” and have “lifelong consequences” for both the injured party and the offender.
The judge noted the aggravating factors in this case include that the offences took place in an out-of-the-way corner of a poorly lit skatepark, the breach of trust and the “significant” impact on the victim and her family.
She said she took into account the man’s youth at the time, his lack of previous convictions and personal circumstances.
The judge said the court could not overlook the delay in the case, which was the fault of neither the defendant nor the victim. “This has added to distress of both parties and caused difficulties for both in planning their futures.”
She said a sentence of six years would be appropriate for an adult, and reduced it to three years to reflect that he was a juvenile at the time.
She suspended the final year of the sentence and backdated it to last month, when the man went into custody. The judge also directed the man to place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months post-release.
At an earlier sentence hearing, the woman spoke in her victim impact statement about the effect on her and her family of delays in the investigative and court processes.
She said she found the trial difficult and traumatising, describing the cross-examination as “very stressful”.
“It gave me a real understanding of victim blaming,” she said, adding that it was “awful” to have someone “try to undermine my truth and integrity”.
She said she had been a “happy, bubbly person”, but “lost myself” after January 2022. “I was just existing,” she said, adding that she missed classes, which affected her studies and her plans to attend college.
She said she took a year out after school, which “allowed me to start to try to find myself again”, and then started college.
She would “not let anything stop me become a strong, mature, independent woman”, she said.
“Coming forward and telling my truth was one of hardest things to do. I hope it stops it happening to someone else.”
Ms Justice Ring told the woman that a new protocol, which aims to get cases involving a complainant or defendant under 18 into a courtroom within 12 months, are “because of cases like yours”.
“It is important you highlighted that. It reminds us again not to let delays arise,” the judge said.
Finalising the sentence, Ms Justice Ring wished the woman well and expressed the court’s hope that in time she will be able to move forward with her life.
Evidence was heard that the boy and the girl met in late 2021 and added each other on Snapchat. They chatted on the app and by text, then arranged to meet in mid-January 2021.
They initially walked around, then kissed consensually before going to a corner of the skatepark, which was poorly lit. There was further consensual kissing. There, the boy orally raped the girl, then attempted to rape her. He also sexually assaulted her.
