A man who “picked up” a woman with a learning disability in Limerick city before bringing her back to his home has been jailed for two years for engaging in a sexual act with a protected person.
Peter Guerin (65) had never met the woman, who had travelled to Limerick from sheltered accommodation that day with the intention of getting a train to Galway.
The court heard that the woman was considered a “protected person” under legislation due to her mild intellectual disability. A psychologist report indicated that the woman was “not concrete in her thinking and would struggle to protect herself in the absence of immediate support”.
The report said she also “lacks emotional independence, was suggestable and very vulnerable to exploitation”.
Guerin, of Cois Sruthain, Croom, Limerick, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to engaging in a sexual act with a protected person on April 30th, 2018.
Protected person
His plea was accepted by the Director of Public Prosecution on the basis that he was reckless as to whether the woman was a protected person.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt viewed a video of the woman giving her victim impact statement to specialist gardaí during an earlier sitting last November.
He said today/yesterday (Monday) that it was “immediately obvious to me” and should have been obvious to Guerin, who had spent time with the woman, “that he was dealing with someone with significant limitations”.
Justice Hunt noted that a report from a clinical psychologist assessed the woman as having low cognitive function, in that 99.5 percent of people the same age as her would score above her in an IQ test.
He said it is clear that the woman has struggled in society and is a person who should be protected in law.
He said Guerin had effectively “picked up” the woman.
“I have a general concern that he would approach someone in these circumstances, let alone someone with her limitations. There is realistic concern about the behaviour on display here,” Justice Hunt said.
He accepted that “ultimately sense prevailed” and Guerin “thought the better of proceeding any further with his escapade” and returned the woman to the garda station.
Justice Hunt accepted that the plea was given on the basis of recklessness but added, “I am satisfied that her difficulties ought to have been obvious. He must have known fairly quickly that he was dealing with someone with these difficulties.”
Sentence
The judge set a headline sentence of five years and said he believed that a custodial sentence was warranted on the basis that the law exists to protect vulnerable members of society and that “the complainant was without a doubt in that classification”.
He added that this protection can only be effectively applied if there is some form of deterrent.
He said that in relation to sexual offending it can only be in “the most exceptional circumstances that it will be met with an entirely non-custodial sanction. I don’t see this case as being sufficiently exceptional to warrant this”.
Justice Hunt accepted that Guerin had offended late in life, had no previous convictions and had been of positive good character to date. He said with people such as Guerin, “the sting in the punishment lies in the closing of the prison door behind them”.
He accepted that “considerable weight” should be given to Guerin’s guilty plea considering the complainant’s limitation and how difficult a trial would have been for her.
Justice Hunt said a prison term would be “a salutary experience for him and be uppermost in his mind should he ever have such thoughts again”.
He imposed a two-and-half year prison term with the final six months suspended on strict conditions including that he stay away from the complainant, that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for three years and that he engage with the Probation Service for 12 months upon his release from prison.
Day of incident
Detective Garda Joseph Cusack told Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, that the woman later told specialist interviewing gardaí that she was at the bus station in Limerick city when Guerin approached her and asked her if she was from the area.
He expressed concern for her safety and offered her a lift.
She told officers that she thought Guerin was helping her. She knew the buses had left from Limerick, and she had nowhere left to go.
She said when she got into the car Guerin “dropped his hand” and she asked him to stop.
He replied, “Do you want to be aroused?” and asked her if she had a boyfriend.
He said he was married and began to move his hand up her leg, but she pushed him away. He offered to let her stay in his house because she had nowhere else to go.
Det Gda Cusack said on reaching Guerin’s home he offered the woman a cup of tea. He then opened her coat and went to touch her breasts, but she told him not to touch her.
The woman later told specialist gardaí that she was “a soft eejit” and agreed to go to a bed in Guerin’s home but he “took advantage” of her and got in beside her.
She told officers she “gave up” and lay there saying she was “so fed up because he wouldn’t listen to me”. She said she stayed quiet, and he took off her clothes and cuddled her, “pawing me… letting on that we were a couple,” the woman said.
She said he kept making her touch his penis, but she didn’t want to, and he was also trying to kiss her.
The woman said she continued pushing him away and Guerin told her he was trying to get her into the mood for sex, “but I was not in the mood for sex,” she said.
He told her he was married, and he was afraid his wife would catch them, and he said if she did catch them, “there would be war”.
Guerin then brought the woman to Limerick. He told her she was a “beautiful looking girl” and gave her €10 before he dropped her at the garda station. He told the woman, “sure you won’t report me?”.
Additional evidence
The woman made a complaint the following day and was examined at her local sexual assault treatment unit on May 1, 2018.
Det Gda Cusack said gardaí harvested CCTV footage from the area around the bus station and identified Guerin’s vehicle. He was arrested the following August.
During the subsequent garda interviews he said he had been celebrating his birthday that day and had people over at his home. He came to Limerick later.
Mark Nicholas SC, defending, emphasised that the DPP has accepted his client’s guilty plea on the basis of him “being reckless as to whether she was a protected person”.
The woman’s victim impact statement was presented to the court in the form of a video and her speaking to specialist gardaí.
She stated that she felt like she had no control and that she cannot open up to her family about what happened.
She said her quality of life has declined and she worries that this would happen again. “My innocence was taken from me,” she said.
Mr Nicholas told Mr Justice Hunt that his client admits that he sexually touched the woman but claimed it had been consensual.
He asked the court to accept that his client had ensured the woman was safe by bringing her to the garda station and described the incident as “an evening of madness”. He said reports previously ordered for the case put Guerin at a “low risk of re-offending”.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
