An American real estate agent who groped inside and outside a young man’s shorts in the sauna at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin has avoided jail.
Bryan McNeill (55), of K Street, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, was handed a six-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay €10,000 to the 19-year-old college student.
The businessman had been allowed to return to the United States in March, days after the incident in the luxury hotel.
He pleaded guilty to a sexual assault charge when he came from the US for his hearing in Dublin District Court on Monday, and his case was adjourned until Wednesday for sentencing.
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In a mitigation plea, defence counsel Oisín Clarke, instructed by solicitor Brian Keenan, had urged the court to leave McNeill without a criminal conviction based on extenuating circumstances: the early plea, remorse, being a sole carer for his mother, a compensation offer to include paying for therapy for the complainant, his lack of prior convictions and previous good character.
Judge Paula Murphy refused, stressing the gravity, culpability, invasiveness and sexualised nature of the touching, and the high level of gross misjudgement and recklessness, given the marked age gap between McNeill and the complainant.
Judge Murphy heard the businessman “misread the situation” until the shocked victim stood up and told him to stop.
McNeill did not address the court. His husband provided a letter confirming the accused’s health had declined due to stress, and he had suffered from vertigo since the incident.
Judge Murphy recorded a conviction and suspended the sentence, on the condition that the defendant does not reoffend within the next year and pays the compensation within six months.
The teenager did not attend the sentencing, but his mother was present to hear the outcome and the judge’s praise for his honest and measured statement. Judge Murphy also emphasised that the young man was extremely blameless.
In evidence, Det Gda Cathal Ryan said the injured party was staying at the five-star hotel in March with a family member and used the gym, and afterwards went to the sauna.
He later reported to gardaí that an older man sexually assaulted him in the sauna.
In his statement, he outlined to the detective that McNeill was rubbing his shoulder and upper torso with his right hand, and “slid” his hands under his shorts to grope his buttocks from within his shorts and then with his left hand grabbed his penis outside the shorts.
McNeill gave gardaí an account claiming it was a consensual interaction, but the complainant stated it was not consensual.
Det Gda Ryan said McNeill, who had been granted €30,000 bail, had no prior convictions in Ireland or any other jurisdiction.
Judge Murphy ranked the offence as mid-range, if not higher, for the jurisdiction of the District Court.
On Monday, the student had told the judge: “I was just enjoying the luxury of being in the hotel and having a general conversation; I did not initiate what happened.”
He revealed that he was in shock afterwards, and it took weeks to process what happened. He could not talk about it when his parents asked how he was.
He said that his family thought he was happier before and is more irritable now. He also stated that he was not ready to face what happened, but wanted it to disappear.
“I do wonder why this was done to me. I am friendly and social, but definitely more worried than I used to be,” the young man had said.
He became withdrawn and believed the assault was partly a reason for failing a college exam during the summer.
The defence said McNeill came from humble beginnings, was the first in his family to achieve a third-level education and “dragged himself up by his bootstraps” from a young age, eventually becoming a real estate agent.
Counsel submitted that a conviction could have “catastrophic consequences” for McNeill in the United States in terms of his livelihood and other features of his life.
