A US national who plied two girls with an "alcopop" drink before sexually assaulting them in his Dublin home has been given a five year suspended sentence.
The man is unlawfully at large from a prison sentence in the US but married to an Irish woman, who was pregnant at the time off the incident. Last week his wife said she hoped to keep their marriage together.
Suspending the five year maximum sentence, Mr Justice Flood said: "Taking my courage in my hands, I hope his wife's faith is reflected in him."
In February the 29 year old man pleaded guilty at the Central, Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the now 13 year old girls on two occasions each on June 28th, 1996. He cannot be named to protect the identities of the victims.
Describing the assaults as "a gross invasion of a person's individual dignity", the judge said he was delighted psychiatrists concluded that to date they had "no residual deficit".
Mr Justice Flood said his approach was to impose a "very severe sentence". However, he would suspend it for seven years on the defendant entering into a bond to keep the peace, attend his probation officer for three years and take part in sex offender counselling with the Eastern Health Board.
"If he so much as sneezes in respect to the criminal law in future he will serve the five years and any other sentence cumulatively. I hope the sheer terror of that sort of sentence will keep him on the straight and narrow path," said Mr Justice Flood.
At last week's hearing, Det Garda Sgt Gabriel O'Gara told Mr Maurice Gaffney SC, prosecuting, that the defendant knew the girls as they were friends of his wife's younger sister.
He brought the girls to his house to try on clothes at 2 p.m. and plied them with a drink which contains 4.7 per cent alcohol.
When they began to feel the effects of the drink he told them to relax. He fondled one girl over her clothes while her friend was in the bathroom. When she objected, he went and fondled the second girl.
This girl also told him to stop but he continued and performed oral sex on her. She then left the house abruptly, and he sexually assaulted her friend in the same manner.
The defendant then proceeded to collect the girl who left and drove both home. Shortly after 4.30 p.m. the girls, who were very distressed, raised the alarm and gardai were called.
When contacted, his wife said her husband had gone missing. Later that day he rang gardai to say he would surrender himself after consulting his solicitor.
Det Sgt O'Gara said the defendant did not arrive that day but on July 2nd he again contacted gardai and was interviewed. He did not make any admissions.
He was charged with a total of eight offences, including a count of rape and unlawful carnal knowledge of one girl. On the day of his trial in February, the prosecution accepted guilty pleas to the sexual assaults.
Defence counsel Mr Michael McDowell SC said his client wished to publicly acknowledge his remorse and apologise to the victims for his "undoubtedly predatory" sexual behaviour.
The offences were very serious, but while he had convictions in the US for larceny and robbery, none was of a sexual nature.
Det Sgt O'Gara also agreed with Mr McDowell that his client was unlawfully at large from the US but the authorities there were not interested in his return.