A 21-year-old man who befriended the young sons of four of his neighbours and then sexually abused them was sentenced to three years imprisonment at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday. In sentencing the man, who cannot be named for the protection of his victims' identity, Judge A.G. Murphy said the defendant had "murdered the innocence of four small boys and interfered with the natural development of their emotions".
The court was told the sexual assaults on three of the victims took place between 1994 and 1996 when they were aged between eight and 10. The fourth victim was assaulted in 1992 when he was 12.
All the offences took place in the accused man's home where he took them to play computer games and darts. In the case of two victims, the assaults were serious and regular, progressing from kissing and touching to oral sex.
In answer to Mr Tom Creed, defending, a Garda witness agreed the accused believed he was "having a relationship" with one of the boys, who was aged about 10 at the time. "He was most emphatic about this. He said he was in love with the boy," the witness told the court.
Mr Creed said that most cases of paedophilia came to light when the perpetrators were of mature years, but in this case the accused was a young man for whom rehabilitation was desirable for his own sake and that of the public.
"For a lot of the time these offences occurred when he was actually baby-sitting for the parents of the boys," Mr Creed said. "It is only now after having some treatment that he is beginning to realise what he did was wrong."
Judge Murphy said the crimes were very serious. However, the defendant had pleaded guilty, which saved his victims from having to relive their experiences. He directed that psychiatric reports on the man should be furnished to the prison authorities in the hope that he would receive treatment.