Teenager with psychiatric issues sexually abused mother

An ITALIAN teenager with serious psychiatric issues who sexually abused his adopted mother during a visit to Ireland has been ordered to attend in-patient treatment as a condition of a suspended prison sentence.

The 18-year-old has longstanding and complex mental health issues, and a bed is available this week for his treatment at a psychiatric hospital in Italy, after which he would be transferred to a specialist in-patient facility, the Central Criminal Court was told on Tuesday.

The boy came forward from the district court on signed pleas of guilty to anal rape and false imprisonment of the woman, as well as four counts of sexual assault and one of assault causing harm.

The offending took place in September 2025 when the boy (then 17) and his mother were visiting Ireland.

He can’t be named as he was a juvenile at the time, and to protect the victim’s right to anonymity.

Imposing sentence last week, Judge Paul McDermott said this was a “very difficult case” which involved the “abuse of a loving and caring parent”, the “violation of natural boundaries” and a “disturbing indifference” to these issues by the boy. He noted the “callous indifference” shown and the humiliation and degradation she was subjected to.

The judge said the court considered the victim impact statement to be “in many ways, the most important document” it had received, describing it as “extraordinary” and “forgiving”.

He said the statement explained the woman’s trauma in dealing with this case and the “deep charity she has, in the Christian sense” towards the boy.

The judge noted the woman’s concern for the boy’s future, including her worry that his condition may deteriorate in prison, and she would be responsible in some way.

Judge McDermott said it was “understandable, but entirely misplaced” as the defendant is “accountable for his appalling crimes”.

Extensive psychiatric and forensic psychological reports were provided to the court during the sentence hearing.

Fiona Murphy, defending, said that her client suffered "very serious neglect" as a young child and was placed into care for child neuropsychology at the age of four. He was adopted by his parents two years later, and they have made "significant" efforts to help him over many years.

The boy has multiple diagnoses, including oppositional defiance disorder, a mild intellectual disability, PTSD, and a mood disorder.

He has been under the care of mental health services in Italy since he was ten years old. Psychiatrists consider his conditions to be responsive to appropriate treatments and that there is no evidence of substance abuse.

The court heard during the hearing that the boy was undergoing a period of re-assessment to plan for his future prior to his visit here, which included a withdrawal of all medications he had been taking for many years.

The boy’s parents sought advice about whether it was appropriate for the boy to travel to Ireland during this process, and no concerns were expressed.

In his comments, the judge said the teenager’s mental health issues are an “exceptional” feature of the case and that there was a “hiatus” in drug administration, "which unfortunately covers this period of offending”, which the court considered of particular significance.

He also noted that the boy has no previous convictions, his immaturity and his very early guilty pleas.

The judge said he would set a headline sentence of 10 years for an adult for this type of offending, which he reduced to seven years to reflect that the boy was a child in law at the time.

Noting the boy has been in detention since his arrest last September, the judge handed him a three-year sentence, suspended in full on very strict conditions.

These include that the boy must not contact the injured party directly or indirectly or through a third party without her express written consent, and that she should have “absolute control” over the manner of any communication if she allows it. He must also give consent to allow gardaí to confirm his engagement with mental health services in Italy.

The boy’s father undertook to notify gardaí and the Italian police of any breach of the conditions of the suspended sentence.

The judge also directed that the boy must leave the jurisdiction in the company of his father within 48 hours of his release.

The judge said this was not a deportation or exclusion order, but was “directed towards the treatment of an offender who committed serious offences as a child” who the Italian authorities have engaged with for many years.

He said the court’s view is that there is “adequate provision” under the European Arrest Warrant to have the boy extradited back to this jurisdiction if there are any breaches of the conditions.

The Central Criminal Court previously heard that the boy contacted gardaí straight after the assaults last September and told them “his mother was broken”.

The court heard that after the boy began sexually assaulting her, she rang her husband, and he was shouting down the phone at his son to try to get him to stop.

The boy had his hands on his mother’s mouth, and she was struggling to breathe, and the boy continued to sexually assault her in various ways. The boy then anally raped her while telling her “to be silent” and calling her a “good girl”.

The woman was screaming for help and was highly distressed during the ordeal. The entire incident lasted around 30 to 40 minutes, an investigating garda told Diana Stuart SC, prosecuting.

After the incident, the woman was in utter shock and had bruises on her arm.

Asked why he had the unconsensual sex, he told gardaí, “I want”, meaning he wanted to do it. Asked if he now felt sorry about it he said “no”.

Ms Murphy told the court that nothing said in mitigation was intended to minimise the "very serious offending" for which her client was before the courts.

She said he acknowledges the harm done to his mother and has not had any contact with her since this incident.

She said the boy's father has been "torn apart" by the case and is doing his best to perform his duties as a father and a husband.

Ms Murphy said her instructions are to offer an apology and express her client's remorse.

She said the boy's family are concerned that the treatments he requires may not be available to him in an adult prison.

The boy's father took the stand and said he would bring the boy directly to the psychiatric hospital in Italy and later to the inpatient facility if permitted by the court.

He undertook to contact the Italian police and the gardaí if there were any issues, saying this was his duty as a father and citizen.

He said his concern was not only his son's safety but society's.

"I can’t live with the responsibility that something can occur to other people."

The judge noted that the boy's father "has done everything he can and more".