Boy, 14, faces sex-assault charge
A 14-year-old boy was brought before the Dublin Children’s Court today charged with sexually assaulting two women in their twenties.
Judge Eamon O’Brien heard that the boy, who is residing in a care unit, was charged with two sexual assaults between January 18 and January 19 last, at Donabate Village, in Co Dublin.
Garda Louise Burns of Coolock station said that after the boy was charged this morning he replied: “I do not see myself a sex offender.”
She told Judge O’Brien that the Director of Public Prosecutions had recommended dealing with the case summarily, meaning it would be retained in the Children’s Court and not be sent on to the Circuit Court, which on conviction can impose lengthier sentences.
Defence solicitor Mr Garreth Noble said he was seeking time for reports to be obtained from the Mater Child Guidance Clinic, where the boy has been attending counselling.
The teenager, who was accompanied to court by care workers, remained silent during the brief proceedings. No family members were present for the case.
Mr Noble also asked for bail from another on-going prosecution to be extended to cover the new charges.
The boy was already facing four other charges, two for production of a knife during a dispute at his care home on November 13 last year, when he was aged 13, and two more for attacking women at the unit, on December 21 last and January 7 last.
Mr Noble requested copies of the memo of interviews conducted by the gardaí to be furnished to the defence.
Judge O’Brien made an order for disclosure and remanded the boy on bail to appear again later this month when pleas are to be entered.
Facts of the alleged sexual assaults have not yet been outlined in court.
