Man who filmed child being sexually abused after the victim was drugged to be sentenced later relating to assaults in Kildare and Laois

A man filmed a teenager being orally raped after the man molesting the child had rendered the victim unconscious with a pain relief drug he had earlier stolen, a court has heard.

The 22-year-old accused and his 31-year-old co-accused knew each other through their work with a voluntary paramedic organisation.

The court heard that the 22-year-old has since made a complaint to gardaí in relation to a sexual relationship he had with his co-accused which he claimed began when he was 15 years old.

The 22-year-old was remanded in custody pending sentence next month after he pleaded guilty to two charges of aiding and abetting in the sexual assault of a child on May 7 and 20, 2018.

He also pleaded guilty to production of child pornography on May 7, 2018. 

He was 18 years old at the time and was driving the vehicle after his co-accused used an oxygen mask to force the teenage victim to inhale a pain relief drug before he sexually assaulted him.

Thirteen days later another 15-year-old was sexually assaulted by the older man in a similar manner after he too had been rendered unconscious when the older man forced him to inhale the drug.

The court heard that the earlier offences came to light after gardaí confiscated the phone of the 22-year-old men during a search of his home after the second victim made a complaint that he had been sexually assaulted.

Detective Garda Robert Whelan told Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing BL, prosecuting, that analysis of this phone revealed four videos which had been recorded by the man, including two videos of the 15-year-old being forced to inhale the drug and two videos of him being orally raped by the older man.

The 31-year-old Kildare co-accused pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to oral rape of one boy at a place in Co Laois on May 7, 2018.

He also admitted meeting the child for the purpose of sexual exploitation and aiding and abetting in the production of child pornography.

He also pleaded guilty to sexual assault and sexual exploitation of another child on May 20, 2018 at a place in south Dublin and in the Wicklow mountains. Finally, he admitted stealing items, including a vial of Penthrox and a carbon dioxide chamber, from Naas Racecourse on an unknown date in 2018.

Penthrox is an analgesic used by medical practitioners, the defence forces, ambulance paramedics, sports clubs and surf lifesavers to administer emergency pain relief.

It is administered by attaching a vial of the liquid drug to a pipe like device called a green whistle, which is then used to inhale the drug.

In May 2020 Mr Justice Paul McDermott he imposed an eleven- year prison term with 18 months suspended on the older man, after saying that the attacks were planned in a predatory way where the man used his membership of the voluntary organisation to cultivate the trust of the victims and their families.

He said that the use of a drug to debilitate the victim was a particularly aggravating feature of this case.

The judge described as sinister the making of a permanent video record. He said the men made the video with cold and ruthless pursuit and with an indifference to the welfare of the victim in that incident.

He said it was very damaging to the victim, who was bound to be upset by the knowledge of its existence.

Mr Justice McDermott said these attacks were egregious breaches of trust by the men of the boys and their families, who believed the victims were safe with these men.

He said the man used his membership of the voluntary paramedic organisation to lure the victims and their family into a false sense of security.

The court heard that on two occasions the 31-year-old went to the homes of the victims and picked them up in a car driven by the younger man. He then administered the drug by either holding the whistle to the victim's mouth or holding an oxygen mask to their face.

On each occasion the victim was knocked out and awoke to find the man sexually assaulting him.

The court heard that before the assaults the man had carried out internet searches such as “nitrous oxide side effects”, “Penthrox and knock out”, and “how much Methoxyflurane does it take to knock you out”.

Methoxyflurane is the active ingredient in Penthrox, the court heard.

Medical evidence was given which stated that Penthrox should not be administered to anyone under the age of 18. The court heard that the whistle device used by the man had been altered so that a filter had been removed. This alteration meant the effects of the pain relief drug would be four times more potent and would cause memory loss.

Det Gda Whelan agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending the 22-year-old, that his client “fell under the influence” of the older man when he was 15 years old and later became sexually involved with him.

Counsel suggested to the detective that the man had effectively “groomed” his client and how he had told the gardaí that the man had “guilted him into the sexual encounters”.

“If I didn’t do it, he would sulk. He could be having a bad day and he implied that I would have to provide (a sexual experience) for him to cheer him up,” the younger man told gardaí when he was being questioned in relation to the offences.

Det Gda Whelan agreed that his client told them the older man would provide him with gifts, allow him drive his car and paid for his training.

He accepted that gardaí suggested to the 22-year-old while he was being questioned that he could make a complaint that he himself had been sexually exploited by the man when he was a younger teenager.

Det Gda Whelan confirmed that he is aware that the man’s has since made a complaint to gardaí in relation to this.

Mr Bowman told the court that his client told gardaí “he was just minding his own business” in the front of the car during the sexual assaults of the teenager.

He also told gardaí that he believed that what was happening between the man and the victim was consensual, but added “in fairness once the green whistle was produced, consent goes out the window”.

Counsel asked for the case to be adjourned to allow for the continued psychological assessment of his client.

The man had his bail revoked and was remanded in custody pending sentence on May 6, next.

ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE

Det Gda Whelan told Mr Ó Dúnlaing that on May 20, 2018, a 15-year-old boy made a complaint that the older man had sexually assaulted him in the back of a car.

He told gardaí that he knew this man and another man, who had driven the car, as both men knew his sister through the paramedic organisation.

He said the accused had texted him about meeting up and he drove to the boy's home and picked him up. Again the other man was driving and the three went to the beach.

The man told the boy they had this drug called “green whistle” and it was like laughing gas. After being repeatedly asked if he wanted to do it the boy agreed.

The defendant took a medi bag from the boot of the car and took out the Penthrox vial and the whistle device.

He attached the vial to the whistle and showed the boy how to inhale on the whistle.

The court heard that after inhaling a number of times the boy couldn't use his arms.

The defendant then attached the whistle to an oxygen mask and pushed it on to the child's face and held it there and told the boy to keep breathing.

The victim was inhaling for around four minutes. He later came around to find he and the man were stripped from the waist down and the man was forcing him to give him a “blow job”, he told gardaí.

The man was also masturbating the child and tried to kiss him. The victim told the man no and pushed the defendant away.

The accused told the driver “ah he's coming back” and said to the victim “do you not want it anymore?”.

The men drove the victim home and the accused asked him if he was okay and “did he regret doing the drug”.  The victim told the men he was okay and when he got home, he contacted his sister and told her what had happened.

His sister notified gardaí and the child was brought to a sexual assault treatment unit. The court heard the accused had told the boy earlier not to tell his sister about using the drug.

The court heard that the defendant had previously told the boy, by text message, that he'd let him drive his car in exchange for sending “dick pictures” and the boy had sent him one.

After his arrest the accused claimed all the sexual activity was consensual and that the second victim was at all times coherent and had initiated the activity.

The attack on the first victim emerged during the investigation into the later attack when analysis of the men's mobile phones retrieved video footage of the first attack.

Video evidence recorded by the younger man on a mobile phone were viewed by the judge in his chambers.

The court heard the first video shows the two men prompting the victim to inhale the “green whistle” and the accused then holding the whistle to his mouth.

The men are recorded shouting at him to “take it”. At one point the victim drops the inhaler and the accused picks it back up and administers it again to the child.

The men are recorded asking the victim to raise his arms to test the effects and the footage shows him losing consciousness.

Two more videos show him unconscious in the parked car with the man orally raping him while he holds the child's head.

In a victim impact statement, the mother of the second victim said her son was too embarrassed to come to court to give his own statement.

She said her son had been a typical teenager and was preparing to sit his Junior Cert exam in May 2018. She said since the attack he has had difficulties in school and had to go to counselling.

She said the night of the assaults will haunt her and her son for the rest of their lives. She said the defendant used his position of responsibility to gain access to controlled drugs in order to carry out horrendous acts of assault against a child.

She asked how the man was able to steal a drug “that should have been locked away”, saying “what if he reacted badly (to the drug) or didn't come around?”

A victim impact statement from the first victim said he felt betrayed because he thought the men were good friends to him.

He said he never spoke to anyone and never would have if the videos had not been discovered.

“I am doing okay now. I just try not to think about it. I want to move on with my life,” the statement read.