Teenage victim of paedophile ring packed knife to confront sex offender over unwanted advances, court hears
A child victim of a broken-up paedophile ring, now aged 17, “flipped” and packed a knife with the intention of confronting “a renowned paedophile”.
The incident occurred after the sex offender had made unwanted advances on the teenager in April of this year, a court has heard.
At the Children’s Court in Ennis, the court was told that the teenager has been through "torture" and was the primary victim of a paedophile ring in Cork city when he was a child that the State broke up a number of years ago.
The court heard that the teenager suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from his early childhood experiences and he has been in State care since the age of 10.
The sexual abuse occurred before the teen went into State care and the teenager was before the Children's Court where he pleaded guilty to the illegal possession of a knife in a Co. Clare town on April 17 last.
Explaining the background to the incident, solicitor for the teenager, Daragh Hassett told the court: “This young man was the victim of systematic sexual and physical abuse for many years in Cork city.
“There was a paedophile ring there broken up by the State some years ago and this young man was the primary victim of that. It was an appalling case.”
Mr Hassett said that this is relevant as the teenager is currently living in State care in a Co. Clare town where “a well-known and renowned paedophile befriended my client”.
Mr Hassett said: “This man was an elderly man and on the night in question, this man telephoned my client and was making certain advances to him and my client got into a taxi to make his way towards where this man lives.”
"You have a young man who was a victim of sexual abuse from a very young age and you have this paedophile who was trying to seek him out for the purpose of more abuse and my client reacted and he flipped.”
Sgt Aiden Lonergan said that when the teenager was intercepted by social workers and the gardaí, a rucksack was recovered from the boot of the taxi where a knife was found.
Mr Hassett said that the knife was not used on the night and wasn’t taken from the rucksack. He said that the paedophile is currently the subject of a Garda ‘grooming’ investigation.
Mr Hassett said that his client “is doing very, very well” in State care.
He said: “I have met the young man. He is a very erudite, bright, well-spoken young man who has been through torture since a very young age.
“The State, in this case, has looked after him very well. In many cases, the State is criticised about the way it has handles victim but by the boy’s own admissions, the State has been very good to him.”
“It is a particularly unusual case with unusual facts - he is a particularly impressive young man.”
Asked about the background to the incident by Judge Patricia Harney as outlined by Mr Hassett, Sgt Aiden Lonergan said that the facts are accepted by the State.
In evidence, the teenager’s social worker said: “This is a very complex case, the boy has been in State care since he was 10.”
The care worker said that there have been a number of outstanding child protection concerns where the teenager was a victim of ongoing vulnerable situations that are being investigated by specialist interviewers.
She said: “We would believe that the boy has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of his early childhood experiences."
The social worker said that in his current placement, there has been no instance of violence by the boy against any staff in the care home.
She said that prior to that, he was incredibly stressed and re-living a lot of past experiences from his earlier childhood.
She said that he has been a very stressed and traumatised young man.
However, the care worker said that she is “incredibly optimistic” for the boy’s future.
The worker said that she is overseeing an intensive aftercare package that has been signed off through the court and a full breadth of TUSLA aftercare support packages are in place for the boy.
She said that the boy has ambitions to become a social worker and specialise in childcare.
Judge Harney said that the possession of a knife by a youth is “very concerning and very worrying for the Gardaí”.
However, Judge Harney stated that the knife remained in the bag and wasn’t taken out of the bag.
Judge Harney said that the facts of the case distinguish the case from the normal run of cases that come before the district court and she said she would disregard the guilty plea and dismiss the case against the teen.
She said: “I have no hesitation in recording a dismissal.”
