Individuals linked to at least 19 rape cases have been accepted into the Garda Youth Diversion Programme since 2010, according to new data obtained by RTÉ Investigates.
The data indicates that scores of teenagers have been accepted onto the programme for a range of sexual offences, including rape.
When a child aged between 12-18 commits a criminal offence, they can be admitted to the Diversion Programme under certain conditions and receive a caution. Once accepted, they cannot be prosecuted in court for their offence, thus avoiding a criminal record.
However, data released to RTÉ Investigates under Freedom of Information legislation reveals dozens of young people who admitted to serious sexual offences have been accepted by the programme, meaning they will never face prosecution.
Eligibility for the programme requires that the young person must accept responsibility for their actions, agree to be cautioned, and accept supervision terms if applicable.
This release represents the first detailed breakdown of sexual offence sub-categories accepted to the Diversion Programme.
It covers six sub-categories of sexual offending from 2010 to 2023: sexual assault; aggravated sexual assault; child pornography; indecency; rape of a female; and rape under Section 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) Amendment Act, which refers to anal rape, oral rape or rape with an object.
For the years with counts between one and nine, exact numbers were withheld to protect the identities of the victims and the offenders.
Between 2010 and 2023, a total of 4,289 cases involving those sub-categories were referred to the Diversion Programme, with 795 of those referrals accepted.
The data also reveals that in 2011, of the 59 referrals for the offence category "rape of a female", ten – almost 20% of the referrals – were accepted into the programme.
Although exact figures were not provided for this offence in each of the other years, the records indicate that there were at least nine other rape cases accepted from 2010-2023.
The Diversion Programme also accepted at least 14 cases between 2010-2023 for rape under Section 4.
From 2016 to 2023, 480 cases involving child pornography were referred, of which around half – 241 cases – were deemed suitable for the programme. Smaller numbers (less than ten annually) were accepted in earlier years.
For sexual assault, of the 2,229 referrals from 2010 to 2023, around 270 – more than 10% – were accepted.
Access to data being appealed
The Diversion Programme aims to prevent young people from entering the criminal justice system and seeks to discourage further offending.
Once accepted, children typically receive a caution and are supervised by a Garda, known as a Juvenile Diversion Officer.
The programme's operations are reviewed by the Committee Appointed by the Minister to Monitor the Effectiveness of the Diversion Programme, a statutory body comprising civilians and Garda members, which provided the recent statistics to RTÉ Investigates under Freedom of Information.
The Monitoring Committee said it could not release a complete data set for the figures requested, which are completely anonymised, for years where the numbers were below 10. It claimed this would potentially reveal the identities of victims or offenders.
RTÉ Investigates has requested the complete data set and appealed this decision to the Information Commissioner.
Victim’s consent is not required for admission
The Diversion Programme is generally designed for children who are aged between 12 to 18 when their offence was committed. If a young person commits an offence aged 18 or over, they are not eligible for the programme.
The Director of the Diversion Programme, a senior Garda, makes the final admission decision.
According to An Garda Síochána, this decision is based on the nature of the offence, its impact on the community, the young person's prior offending history, and the victim's views.
However, legislation states that the victim's consent is not "obligatory for such admission."
The legislation that established the Diversion Programme allows the Minister for Justice to introduce regulations excluding serious crimes from the programme. However, no such regulations have been made to date.
'Where is the survivor in this?’
Dr Clíona Saidléar, the Executive Director of Rape Crisis Network Ireland, told RTÉ Investigates that she was "shocked" by the figures that show serious sexual offences have been admitted to the programme.
"I think it's something that the general public wouldn't be aware of either," she said.
"If someone is diverted into that programme, on the other side of it, there is a survivor, there's a victim there. There can be a real good value in intervening. In fact, we advocate for intervening with teenagers who have offended.
"But here, when you're looking at the Diversion Programme, the question is, where is the survivor in this?"
She also noted that in recent years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of sexual offending by teenagers.
"We're seeing more of it," she explained. "The Diversion Programme might have a role for those teenage offenders, but the most important thing is that for the survivor, for the victim in those cases – were they in on that decision?"
Responses to queries
RTÉ Investigates sent detailed queries to the Garda Press Office, the Department of Justice and the Monitoring Committee about the Diversion Programme.
Neither the Department of Justice nor the Monitoring Committee responded to our queries.
The Garda Press Office noted that "the data requested is subject to a complaint by RTÉ to the Information Commissioner," and said that it would not be in a position to comment on the data "out of respect for the Information Commissioner, until a ruling is made."
It also said the legislation that the Diversion Programme operates under is a matter for the Houses of the Oireachtas.
