Man who groped teenager jailed for a year

Isabel Hayes

A man who groped a teenager in a supermarket in an “opportunistic and demeaning” act has been jailed for one year for sexual assault.

The then 16-year-old girl was helping her mother with the weekly grocery shop in a Dublin supermarket when she was sexually assaulted by Jasmin Nasic, who put his hand on her buttocks and forcefully groped her as he was walking by her.

Nasic, 36, of Hillcrest Grove, Lucan, Co Dublin, was found guilty by a jury of one count of sexual assault and one count of engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature following a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial earlier this year. They are offences that carry a maximum sentence of 14 years and two years respectively.

Giving her victim impact sentence at Nasic's sentence hearing earlier this year, the young woman said that it took three years and nine months from the date of the offence to the date of his conviction.

“That is 1,375 days I have had to live with the consequences of this assault,” she told the court. She said that before the assault, she was an innocent young girl. “It didn't even cross my mind that someone would do this to me,” she said.

She said Nasic's decision to plead not guilty meant going through a trial, which caused her “stress, anxiety, and sleepless nights”.

She said the trauma of having to hand over her counselling notes in advance of the trial was “degrading”.

Judge Martina Baxter commended the complainant after she had finished her statement and said she was “a great example for other young women”.

Sentencing Nasic on Friday, Judge Baxter noted the contents of a Probation Service report which found Nasic is at moderate risk of sexual re-offending.

The court also heard that although Nasic has previously expressed remorse, he told the Probation Service that the incident was an accident and that he didn't commit it “wilfully or intentionally”.

Judge Baxter noted that when it comes to sexual offending, Nasic “has much work to do”. She said he had subjected a young girl to “sexual grabbing” while she was grocery shopping in the company of her mother, noting it was an “opportunistic and demeaning” act.

Taking into account mitigating factors, including his good work history and lack of previous convictions, she sentenced him to two years in prison and suspended the final year on a number of conditions, including that he remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for a year after his release.

Garda Jennifer Desmond previously told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that the girl and her mother were grocery shopping on the day in question when the girl noticed a man coming towards her in one of the aisles. She didn't think too much of it until he then deliberately groped her buttock as he walked by her.

The young woman was shocked and called out to the man before finding her mother and telling her what happened. They came across Nasic in another aisle, and the girl's mother confronted him, but he denied touching the girl.

He agreed to accompany them to the security station to look at CCTV footage, but when the mother turned around, the man had left. They called 999, and Nasic was later identified from the CCTV footage.

He is originally from Croatia, has been living in Ireland since 2016, and has no previous convictions, the court heard.

Oisin Clarke BL, defending, said his client now accepts the verdicts of the jury and is remorseful for his actions. He handed in some testimonials from colleagues of the defendant. Nasic has worked consistently since coming to Ireland, including in admin at Trinity College and as a kitchen porter.

Mr Clarke said that the defence wished to let the complainant know that Nasic never had sight of her medical notes, and these were only reviewed by the legal team. They were not used in the trial, he said.

He said Nasic was a hardworking man who lived to work and send money home to his family in Croatia. He left his home country as a result of a violent dispute involving his father and brother.

Nasic will now be a registered sex offender, which will impact his employment and future travel prospects, the court heard.