A 27-year-old man has been given a two-year sentence at the Circuit Court in Limerick for the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl.
Peter Gerard Connors, a father of three, who is a member of the Travelling community living at Clondrinagh Halting site in Limerick, pleaded guilty to the unlawful carnal knowledge of the girl on 16 April 2006.
Connors had unlawful sex with the girl while she was babysitting for his family on Easter Sunday night 2006.
She had not had sexual relations with anyone up to this point.
She went to her doctor in November that year complaining of abdominal pains to discover she was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby on 1 January 2007. She is now caring for the baby with the support of her family.
The accused man made admissions to gardaí about the offence, and provided blood samples which proved conclusively that he was the father of the baby born to the young girl.
In a victim impact statement the girl said the incident had ruined her and her family's life and caused a lot of hostility between the two families. She had hid the pregnancy for seven months and was frightened and scared.
Sentencing Connors today, Judge Carrol Moran said he had broken a sacred taboo in the Travelling community by having sex with this young girl, a taboo that is expected to be respected.
He said while he had pleaded guilty and had no previous convictions, he took advantage of the young girl and her life had been irrevocably altered by the lustful actions of the accused.
