A GALWAY man who had sex with a 14-year-old schoolgirl in a Dublin hotel room has been sentenced to three years by Judge Patricia Ryan.
Stephen Murray (32), originally from Ballinfoyle Park, Headford Road, asked the girl to miss school so that she could accompany him to a Dublin hotel where he told staff she was his sister.
Det Garda Mark Jordan told Karen O’Connor, prosecuting, that Murray arrived at the hotel at 9.30am and asked for a double room for him and his “sister”. However the receptionist became suspicious when he returned 15 minutes later with “a young and babyfaced girl” who was wearing a Dublin school uniform.
Murray pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the girl on November 22nd, 2004, in the Celtic Lodge hotel on Talbot Street.
Judge Ryan suspended the final year of the sentence for two years and ordered that he be placed on the sexual offenders register.
Det Garda Jordan said Murray was from Galway and had a Dublin address at Blackhall Square but he gave the hotel a false address.
When a cleaner entered the bedroom, she saw Murray lying on the bed with no top on as the girl sat and brushed her hair. She alerted the receptionist, who asked him to explain, while the girl refused to provide identification or reveal the crest on her school uniform.
The two left and the receptionist called the Garda after finding blood on the bedsheets. Gardaí arrived and found a maths book in the room with the girl’s name and class number written on it. With this, they were able to find out what school she was from.
Det Garda Jordan said the girl told gardaí she had known Murray for seven months and had been phoning and texting him. She said he told her he was 24 and she gave him her correct age. He repeatedly asked her to skip school to meet him that day and she eventually agreed because it was a half day.
She said he told her his landlord owned the hotel and he was living there while his shower was being fixed. She said she had been a virgin and he was aware of this.
Det Garda Jordan said Murray was arrested for unlawful carnal knowledge and interviewed, but nothing of value arose.
Murray was matched to the scene using semen traces. Giollaiosa Ó Lideadha, defending, said his client came from a difficult background and was a heavy alcohol and cocaine user who “took advantage of the fact that this young girl developed an interest in him”.