A VOLUNTARY worker caught committing an indecent act with a mentally impaired man he acted as "big brother" to has been given a two year suspended sentence.
Judge Gerard Buchanan said he was taking into account expert evidence that the victim did not appear to have been "overtly disturbed" by the offence but blamed himself for the loss of his friend.
The 23 year old victim had been judged to have a mental age of five to six years, Garda Mane Boyle told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. She said the victim's younger brother arrived home and discovered the 26 year old defendant pulling up his trousers in the victim's bedroom.
The defendant pleaded guilty to committing an act of gross indecency with him on August 5th, 1994. The court accepted this charge as representative of behaviour between the two men spanning a number of years.
Judge Buchanan declined to make an order preventing the defendant working as a fund raiser for another caring association. He noted that Dr Art O'Connor did not believe there was a likelihood of him re-offending.
The judge added he had difficulty accepting the mental age given for the victim as he had made a comprehensive statement to gardai.
Garda Boyle told Mr George Birmingham, prosecuting, that the defendant befriended the victim when he began voluntary work with a day care centre for the mentally impaired in the 1980s. They went on trips together and the defendant acted as "big brother" to the victim, who outlined to gardai how frequent sexual activity took place over a number of years.
Garda Boyle said the victim had become very withdrawn and had stopped taking meals with his family since the defendant was charged. Relations between the family and the victim had suffered because of the case.