Man pleads guilty to defiling girl, 13, at Limerick city location

A STUDENT at Mary Immaculate College has pleaded guilty to child defilement at a location in Limerick city a number of years ago.

Published 12th Jun 2026, 17:00 BST Limerick Courthouse, Mulgrave Street | LL A STUDENT at Mary Immaculate College has pleaded guilty to child defilement at a location in Limerick city a number of years ago. Sign up to our Limerick Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Limerick Live within your account.

Restrictions are in place on the reporting of identifying details of the case to protect the identity of the victim.

At a sentencing hearing, prosecuting barrister for the State, John O’Sullivan, confirmed the facts of the case with Detective Garda Joe Cusack.

The barrister outlined how on the night in question, the accused man attended a dinner party at the victim’s home.

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The court heard that at the time of the offence, the victim was 13 and the man was over the age of 18.

On the night the offence took place, the man’s parents went to the victim’s home for a dinner party. Over the course of the evening the man entered the girl’s bedroom after she retired for the evening.

The man and the girl exchanged snapchat details and they arranged to meet up later.

After the dinner party had ended, the man and the girl met again in the early hours of the morning.

Mr O’Sullivan outlined that the man later met the girl at a location in the city not far from her house. The court heard that the girl expressed concerns about having sex. The girl described to gardaí that she was facing the wall when he “pushed his private part into me”.

The girl told gardaí that the man ejaculated on her face, which she wiped off with her white hoody.

The court heard that forensic analysis of her clothes detected the man’s DNA on her hoody sleeve.

After the encounter the man told the girl not to tell anyone what happened.

After the encounter with the man, the girl met two of her friends, also 13. The girl told her friends what happened, and the two girls later became witnesses for the case.

Barrister Mark Nicholas, appearing for the accused man, said that the man’s career will be defined in some way by this. In mitigation, Mr Nicholas said that the man had consumed alcohol on the night in question, and that he has said he can’t remember the whole night.

Judge Colin Daly considered the case, and adjourned it for sentencing to a date in July.

Related topics: Limerick city Gardaí Limerick Circuit Court Sign up to our Limerick Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Limerick Live within your account.