A Galway cocaine addict who had sex with a 14-year-old schoolgirl in a Dublin hotel room has been sentenced to three years by Judge Patricia Ryan.
32-year-old Stephen Murray, originally from Ballinfoyle Park, Headford Road asked the girl to miss school so that she could accompany him to a Dublin hotel where he told staff she was his sister.
He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the girl on November 22 2004 in the Celtic Lodge Hostel on Talbot Street.
Det Garda Mark Jordan said Murray was originally from Galway and had a Dublin address at Blackhall Square.
When a cleaning lady entered the hotel bedroom on the morning in question, she saw Murray lying on the bed with no top on as the girl sat and brushed her hair.
She alerted the receptionist but the girl refused to provide identification or to reveal the crest on her school uniform.
The receptionist called gardai after finding blood on the bed sheets.
Gardai contacted the Department of Education and were able to figure out what school she was from.
Det Gda Jordan said the girl told gardai she had known Murray for seven months and had been phoning and texting him.
The girl said he told her he was 24 and she gave him her correct age.
She said he told her his landlord owned the hotel and he was living there while his shower was fixed.
She said she had been a virgin and that he was aware of this.
Gardai matched him to the scene, using DNA traces found in the bed sheets.
Defence counsel, Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC, said his client came from a very difficult family background and suffered from low self-esteem.
He said he was a heavy alcohol and cocaine user who "took advantage of the fact that this young girl developed an interest in him”.
Judge Ryan suspended the final year of the three-year sentence and ordered that he be placed on the Sexual Offenders’ Register.
