A 57 YEAR OLD man who paid "a sexually provocative boy" £10 to go to bed with him in September 1994 has been given a two year suspended sentence for committing gross indecency in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The defendant, who the court heard is suffering from great depression, pleaded guilty to a charge of committing gross indecency. Judge Kieran O'Connor prohibited publication of the defendant's name in case it might lead to the 15 year old victim's identification, and also directed the defendant to remain under probation supervision.
Social workers' reports on the victim made "very distasteful reading", he added.
Sgt Martin Halpin told Ms Isobel Kennedy, prosecuting, that the boy had been staying at a hostel in Dublin's north city area and he met the defendant at the front steps of the building. He asked him for a cigarette and was given one. He then accepted the defendant's invitation to earn £10.
The defendant took the boy to his flat nearby. They got into bed together where sexual acts took place for about 15 minutes. The boy left by a side gate, and some four months later told a hostel employee about what happened.
Sgt Halpin said the boy guided gardai to the flat in March 1995. The defendant was arrested and he made a statement which confirmed what the boy had alleged. The defendant had no previous convictions and was employed. The boy was still receiving therapy as a result of his experience.
Mr Hugh Hartnett, defending, said the reports on the boy showed he had "significant sexual experience" from an early age. He was sexually provocative and used his sexuality for the wrong purposes.
Judge O'Connor told the defendant he had pleaded guilty to a horrible offence. His actions defied description considering the imbalance between his age and the victim's. The reports showed the boy was sexually provocative for gain and the defendant encouraged him by giving him money.