The parents of a 14-year-old psychiatrically ill boy who has sexually abused a number of younger girls yesterday pleaded for the authorities to provide 24-hour care and treatment for him before he causes more trouble.
The youth, who lives in Cork city, admitted to the sexual assaults, and in a letter sent to local gardai, his psychiatrist, Dr Finbar O'Leary, warned that his patient's emotional immaturity and impulsivity meant he remained at risk of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
The psychiatrist also warned that the teenager needed constant supervision when in the company of younger children.
The Southern Health Board received a similar warning from Dr O'Leary in May, but told the boy's parents it did not have a suitable facility for him.
A file went to the DPP about the assaults on young girls, but it was decided not to prosecute because of the boy's psychiatric condition. He was diagnosed as suffering from hyper-kinetic conduct disorder and possible recurrent depressions.
His father criticised the lack of facilities for psychiatrically ill children who had not committed a criminal offence. "We will only have him for another four years because when he is 18 he will be deemed to be an adult and he will be doing 20 years," he said.
The teenager is regarded as such a risk that the three other children in his family sleep in the same room as their parents. "Our daughter is 12 going on 20 as she is constantly minding the smaller ones against him," his mother said. "When one of the smaller ones is using the bathroom she stays by the door to make sure that nothing happens."
On the advice of Dr O'Leary, all internal doors in the house are left open so the boy's movements can be monitored at all times. The couple received respite care in recent weeks after his mother protested at Southern Health Board offices. However, despite the need for around-the-clock supervision, he was found last Monday on the streets of Cork city fund-raising for a charity, when he should have been delivered to school by the foster couple who were providing respite care for the weekend.
A Cork city councillor, Mr Con O'Leary, called on the Minister of State for Health and Children, Mr Frank Fahey, to intervene to ensure a place was found for the boy at a 24-hour treatment facility.
"If this boy had leukaemia or cancer, and he was not a danger to other children, he would be in hospital now," he said. A Southern Health Board spokeswoman said it did not comment on individual cases.