RD, R v

[1] This is a reference by the PPS of a sentence of 2 years imprisonment suspended for 3 years for indecent assault and 9 months imprisonment concurrent suspended for 3 years for 2 counts of gross indecency imposed by Judge Kerr QC at Belfast Crown Court on 20 November 2012.

[3] Subsequently the respondent while naked asked the injured party to touch his genitals on a number of occasions and she did so. The offending culminated in an incident of indecent assault. During this incident the injured party was naked save for her pants and the respondent was also naked. He asked the injured party to lie down on a bed face down and he lay on top of her. He rubbed his erect penis all over her back and pushed it against bottom so that she was sore. He ejaculated during this incident.

[5] The injured party made a complaint to police in England in 2009 but felt unable to pursue it until giving her recorded interview to police on 26 May 2010. The respondent was interviewed by police on 16 February 2011 and denied the allegations. He was further interviewed on 8 February 2012 when police put to him evidence that he had made admissions to medical professionals and social workers in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2002. He made no admissions during these interviews.

[7] The Pre-Sentence Report indicated that the respondent regretted his actions and effects on his sister. He said at the time he did not view the actions as wrong but that during the indecent assault realised his behaviour was serious and following that ceased the abuse. While acknowledging the assault he did not recognise any pattern of abusive behaviour or that there was a grooming process. The report assessed the respondent as not presenting a risk of serious harm.

[9] The assertions in this report need to be viewed cautiously. The respondent induced the injured party to engage in increasingly serious contact leading eventually to ejaculation over a period of months. He admits that he persuaded her to touch his genitalia. It also appears that in 2006 he paid for access to an internet website to view indecent images of female children.