A man who sexually assaulted his female friend while walking her home after a night out has been jailed for four years.

James Rafferty (21) of Gola, Scotstown, Co Monaghan, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of sexual assault on August 14, 2022 at a location in County Monaghan. He has no previous convictions.

Reading her victim impact statement at a previous sentence hearing, the woman said the then 18-year-old man was “my friend, someone I thought I could trust”. She said he offered to walk her home “under the guise of being a gentleman” but then repeatedly sexually assaulted her on the journey. Justice Eileen Creedon said this was an extremely serious sexual assault which featured persistent and ongoing assault, including forcing the woman to touch his genitals over his clothing.

She said after the woman told him to leave her alone he continued to follow her. Evidence was heard yesterday that the defendant and the woman, then aged 19, were socialising separately in the same pub earlier in the night. Later, she encountered the man again while she was walking home. They kissed and she later told gardai she didn’t know why she kissed him.

During the walk he sexually assaulted her. The girl pushed him away afterwards. He kissed her again and she kissed him back, hoping he would leave her alone but he sexually assaulted her again by putting his hand down her trousers, the court heard.

She pushed him off and walked away. Once home, the woman texted family members and her father found her very upset. The gardai were contacted.

The next day she sent Rafferty a message on Snapchat saying “I said ‘no’ to you” and he replied saying “I am sorry”. He later told gardai all the sexual activity was consensual and denied offending. The man was found nearby by the woman’s brother and father, who brought him to the garda station.

When interviewed by gardai, the man admitted consensual kissing. He initially denied sexually assaulting the victim and said he had no memory of the incident. He later accepted it had happened but said it was consensual.

Justice Creedon set a headline sentence of seven years. She reduced this to five years in light of the mitigating factors, including the plea of guilty made last May, the lack of other offending and the unreserved apology offered by Rafferty. She suspended the final year on condition that he keep the peace and engage with the Probation Service for one year in relation to offence and victim awareness work.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said “what Rafferty did hurt more than you can imagine”. She said her confidence was taken in one night and one walk home.

She said she has had to search for herself over the last three years, but the woman she was before that night “will never walk through the front door again”.

“It’s a grief my family and I live with daily”, adding that everyday has felt like a “battle to rebuild myself not as the girl I once was, but as someone entirely different”. She outlined struggling with anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and panic attacks. She said the local gardai and her father encouraged her to stand up and fight “not only for myself, but all the girls who couldn’t speak”.

They “told me my voice matters, even when it felt the world wasn’t listening”. She noted the man’s guilty plea will mean a reduction in his sentence. “Great for him, not me. I’ve done three years and he’s acted innocent all three of them,” she said. “He waited and stretched this whole process out as long as he could. Not because he had any remorse, but because he was selfish.”

“By doing this, he caused me unnecessary mental torment,” she said, adding she felt he was “playing a game with something that has devastated my life”. “Yet again. I’m the one who has to carry the emotional consequences of his actions”. Mr Bowman noted his client will return to the community as a registered sex offender and will carry that stigma for the rest of his life.