Letterkenny man jailed after sexual assault of eight-year-old girl

A Letterkenny man who sexually assaulted an eight-year-old girl has been jailed for 18 months.

Stephen Fox was sentenced on two counts of sexually assaulting the girl.

Fox, a 32-year-old of Glendale Drive, Letterkenny was before Letterkenny Circuit Court. 

In sentencing Fox, Judge John Aylmer said the offence “clearly has had a very negative impact, particularly psychologically” on the victim. 

Judge Aylmer said the incident involved a “grave breach of trust” by Fox, who was twice the age of his victim at the time. The defendant was 16 at the time of the offending. 

He said the case merited a starting point of six years in prison on one charge and four years imprisonment on the other charge.

As Fox was a child himself at the time of committing the crimes, Judge Aylmer said he could reduce the sentences by 50 per cent before taking into account the mitigation.

Judge Aylmer said that a guilty plea was significant as it spared the victim from having to endure a trial.

He said Fox’s plea could be accepted as “a true acknowledgement of guilt and a genuine expression of remorse and a display of some victim empathy”.

Judge Aylmer noted that Fox had no previous convictions and had not come to the adverse attention of the Gardai. 

Fox was described in a medical report as being “immature in presentation with discernible autistic traits”, while Fox himself said that he has Asperger syndrome.

A doctor said that there was “no discernible indication” that Fox harboured any paedophilic interests and was placed at a low-to-moderate risk of reoffending.

An updated probation report said that Fox now displays a significant level of victim empathy and was admitting the offences - which was contrary to the stance originally taken.

Judge Aylmer said the sentences could be reduced to a two-and-a-half-year prison term on one charge and 20 months in prison for the other charge.

Judge Aylmer said he had to consider suspending some or all of the sentence. However, he said that the offences were “too grave, too serious” and there was too large an age gap between Fox and his victim to consider suspending all of it.

The final 12 months from the two-and-a-half-year sentence and the last two months of the 20-month sentence were suspended on Fox entering a bond, in the sum of €100, to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months after his release from prison and on condition that he remain under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Fox must follow all directions in relation to his rehabilitation, attend all appointments and engage with relevant supports to address mental health issues. Fox must also undertake offence-focussed work and abide by the terms of the Sex Offenders’ Act.

The two 18-month sentences are to run concurrently.

Fox sobbed in the witness box and was hugged by a female relative before being led away by prison officers to begin his term behind bars.

A previous sitting of the court heard that it was not until undergoing sex education in school that the victim realised what Fox did to her was wrong.

When initially interviewed by Gardai, Fox made no admissions and his guilty plea arrived just before a planned trial at Letterkenny courthouse. 

In a victim impact statement, the victim told Fox: “Not only have you stolen my youth, but my childhood memories.”

Mr Colm Smyth SC, for the defendant, asked Judge Aylmer “to have regard for the fact that there are issues in his own life that have not been investigated, albeit that is no excuse”. 

Fox was put in the witness box by his barrister, Mr Colm Smyth SC, during an earlier appearance and said: “I can’t imagine the level of anguish that (victim) has gone through. I regret that my actions caused her to feel overwhelming disgust.”