Teenager raped in Cork city urges others 'to come forward and tell their story'
The victim impact statement was read out in court by Detective Garda Niall Comerford.
A teenager told another teenager who is facing sentencing for raping her that she wanted him to know that no means no.
Detective Garda Niall Comerford read the victim impact statement by the 17-year-old-girl who was 15 when she was raped by a 15-year-old boy in an alleyway close to Cork city centre.
The teenager stated: “I want to encourage other girls to come forward and tell their story and to not be scared. No one should control, no man should control another person. No one should get away with rape.
“Before it happened, I was very innocent and quiet and you took away my innocence. You put me in fear of my life and I am still sometimes even scared to go outside.
“I am getting panic attacks, I dream about it and wake up during the night and can't sleep. I bite the tops of my fingers out of nerves and stress.
“I was scared to even look at a boy for ages after it happened in case they would do the same thing to me.
“I completely want to change myself now. I don't want to be that person anymore, because I don't want to be the person that you touched, so I have tried to become a different person. I have changed how I look … now I only wear tracksuits.
“I dropped out of school after it happened because I couldn't even get out of bed to shower or brush my hair and I would stay in the same pyjamas for ages.
“I have watched this impact my family, my mom and dad got very depressed and my siblings were really worried about me because I was very suicidal after it happened. I was suicidal because you took my dignity and I felt like I was worthless. I felt like I had no life after it and I didn't want to do anything.
“I lost all my friends because I didn't text or talk to any of them after it because I just wanted to be by myself.
“I want to thank my parents for supporting me through it and I want to thank all the guards who were involved in it, especially Niall Comerford.”
Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford said she wanted to consider the matter before imposing sentence and adjourned the matter until April 4.
Detective Garda Comerford said that on leaving a fast-food restaurant in the city, the intoxicated girl became separated from her group of friends, at which stage she was approached by the accused who “prompted her to follow him to an isolated area”, where she was subjected to both oral and vaginal rape.
Defence senior counsel Jane Hyland said the 17-year-old who is remanded in detention at Oberstown centre in Dublin cooperated fully with the probation officer, had a supportive family but had difficulties in school and has problems with comprehension and literacy. Ms Hyland said that multiple suicides in his extended family had deeply affected him.
While he pleaded not guilty to the charges, he was found guilty by a jury and now accepts their verdict, Ms Hyland said, adding that he had shown remorse and now expressed his sorrow and regret to the victim.
The rapes refer back to February 12, 2023. There is a legal prohibition on identification of the parties.
