Young woman says she will not allow sexual assault to define her as cousin is jailed

Stephen Maguire

A young Co Donegal woman has said she will not allow a sex assault on her to define her, as her older cousin was jailed for 15 months for the crime.

Louise McMenamin waived her anonymity so her cousin Joseph McGinty could be named in court.

Ms McMenamin was just 10 and Joseph McGinty was aged 14 when he assaulted her during a sleepover at her home.

McGinty, now 27, had pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Louise McMenamin on an unknown date between June 1st and September 1st, 2012.

However, after a three-day trial at Donegal Circuit Court, McGinty was found guilty by a jury of the allegation.

McGinty, from Ballyshannon, was accused of touching the then 10-year-old girl on her bum and beneath her breast area while he was visiting the girl in her house on a sleepover.

McGinty sneaked into the girl's room and touched her on the bottom beneath her nightdress and then touched her breast area.

Details of the incident were given at the sentencing hearing by Garda Catherine Henry of Ballyshannon Garda Station.

After touching the young girl on her bum and under her chest, the court heard the young girl woke up, and McGinty, with an address at Abberlands, Ballyshannon, hid down behind the bed, and she could hear him breathing.

She initially pretended to be asleep, but when he got up to leave, she asked him what he was doing in her room.

The girl immediately went downstairs and told her father what had happened and he took the girl into her mother, and a complaint was later made.

The victim, who told the court that she wanted to be named so that McGinty could be named also, read a heart-wrenching victim impact statement about how the episode had impacted her life so deeply in so many negative ways.

But Ms Louise McMenamin also told McGinty how she has now "been courageous enough to hold you able, seek justice and stand up to you."

Witness box

She outlined the night she was set upon as a child in detail, as she fought back tears in the witness box.

She told how she has spent years in therapy with both the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and also the Rape Crisis Centre (RCC), trying to remedy her anxiety and depression, but that she still cannot tell herself that she is no longer in danger and safe from McGinty.

She added, "What you did to me, as a helpless 10-year-old child, has shaped the young woman I am now, and I hate that you have that power. I will always wonder, and never have the answers, about the person I would have been if you had not taken advantage of me at my most vulnerable.

"It has changed the way I look at the world, the way I look at people. You knew right from wrong, and the poor decision you made that night has left me with a lifetime of fallout. I still experience crippling anxiety if I meet you in public, and although I now face up to you as an adult, it is the child in me that has suffered this pain that you caused that I am fighting for.

"I have carried the guilt of this burden for almost 13 years. The guilt of getting into trouble, the guilt of taking our cousins and extended family away from my brothers, the guilt of knowing that my parents feel like they have failed me. The guilt of missing valuable years without grandparents, the guilt of isolating myself from family and friends that did stand by me. The guilt of still letting this, letting you, control me and so much of my life all these years later.

"I am choosing now to no longer carry this guilt, because it is not mine. You caused this, the weight of it has been suffocating and made me feel worthless, I will leave it behind."

Ms McMenamin said there were times when questioned if she would be strong enough to face her ab.

But, she added, at age 23 years, she is thankful that she fought her corner, told her truth and sought justice.

And she thanked all those who stood beside her as she sought that justice and revealed how she is now graduating from university.

She concluded "This may seem a short incident, but it has been my whole life from the night it took place. I do not deserve to feel this way anymore, I want to move on and start living my life for me, with this chapter closed.

"I did not deserve to suffer due to your actions, to be shunned by our family for telling the truth and miss out on so many opportunities because of fear. I will no longer carry the shame of what you put me through, because I did nothing wrong.

"It may have taken years, but I have realised that I am so much more than what you did to me. I cannot undo what you have done, and this will always be part of me, but I will not let it define me.

Trauma

"I survived what happened, and I will be a voice for other girls. I will not collapse under this trauma. I will continue to show bravery, move on and make younger me proud of the woman I have become, despite all the obstacles in my way."

Joseph McGinty's mother also took to the witness stand and told how the incident had had a massive impact on both families.

She said that as a mother and an aunt, she recognised "the trauma that both of these children have been through."

She added that their grandparents had ed away with this matter on their minds.

Mrs McGinty said she empathised with the trauma that Louise had suffered, but that she was asking the court for leniency for her son.

She reflected on how her son had grown up from being a happy boy to waking up with nightmares and being prescribed antidepressant medication, and developing severe eczema.

However, he went through college and qualified as a civil engineer, who is a popular worker within his company and has the full of his boss.

Mrs McGinty added that her son also respects the verdict of the jury in his case.

Barrister for the accused, Mr Colm Smyth, SC, said this was indeed a tragic case which has had a debilitating effect on the extended families.

Mr Smyth said it has been recognised that the trauma which the victim has gone through, but he said his client had suffered too, and asked the court to take into that the offence was committed when he was 14 years old.

He added that the level of maturity must come into play, and he produced case law on this aspect of the case.

He said McGinty respects the verdict of the court and has the capacity to take it in that time period, but again stressed his client was at a very early stage of his development, either sexual or otherwise, at the time.

He asked the court to consider a non-custodial sentence given the particular circumstances, adding that McGinty has already suffered considerably and has carried the burden since his conviction.

ing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said the aggravating factors in the case was that the victim was only 10 years old at the time and the "very severe impact" the offending has had on her, as he made reference to her victim impact statement.

He referred to the consequences of the assault and how Ms McMenamin still suffered, and had to engage in counselling to cope with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder right throughout her education, and has bravely struggled with all those effects.

The Judge said he had to decide what the headline sentence for McGinty should be before factoring in that he was only 14 years old at the time, and said that if it were an adult who snuck into the bedroom, then without hesitation, he would impose a sentence of three years in prison.

He added the law establishes the fact that the accused was 14 years old, although he added that there was no evidence as to how sophisticated a young man he was in his development.

The fact that he snuck in and sought to commit the offence when Ms McMenamin was asleep, and then hid behind the bed when she woke up, indicated that he had full awareness of what he was doing, added Judge Aylmer. He said this was the only evidence he had to determine as to the accused's culpability.

He said he was entitled to have his own experience of life and 14-year-olds and add that to his assessment, and with the guidance of authorities open to him, Judge Aylmer said he deemed it appropriate to reduce the sentence by 50 per cent to one of 18 months in prison.

He added the few mitigating factors that exist mandate a reduction to one of 15 months in prison, a reduction of one-sixth.

He then said the question then arises if some or all of the sentence could be suspended, as McGinty had come before the courts with no previous convictions and having no adverse attention since the incident.

He said he had taken into that he was a minor and allowed him a 50 per cent reduction.

Because of the gravity of the case and there is no ission of guilt and no expression of remorse for the victim to avail of, as well as nothing before the court about rehabilitation for you, Judge Aylmer said this is not a case where the court could justify a suspended sentence.

He sentenced McGinty to 15 months in prison and placed him on the sex offender for five years.

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.