A court has heard a registered sex offender used a false identity to groom an 11-year-old boy who he systematically abused over a six-month period.
The 38-year-old Dublin man has pleaded guilty to 14 charges of sexual assault and defilement between December 2008 and June 2009.
"I hate you for what you have done", said the now 17-year -old victim to the man
who abused him after the death of the young boy's mother.
The accused was described in court as a predator who groomed the young boy by luring him into his den at a time when the child was not being properly parented .
The man has previous convictions for sexually abusing boys – in 2008 he was already a registered sex offender but he managed to dupe the authorities by using an alias and lying about where he was living.
Mr Justice Paul Carney expressed the view that this might be one of those cases where the Court of Criminal Appeal might uphold a life sentence.
Howeverm the hearing was still underway and the matter has yet to be finalised.