Date Published: 23/03/2023
ARCHIVED - Irish rugby coach in Mallorca handed suspended sentence for child abuse
The 28-year-old was convicted of abusing a 12-year-old girl while living in Spain

The coach of a junior rugby team in Mallorca has been sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday March 22 for sexually abusing one of his players, a 12-year-old girl. The 28-year-old Irishman was handed a suspended sentence by the Provincial Court of Palma even after admitting that he took advantage of the “superiority conferred on him by his status as a coach” and the vast age difference to take advantage of the minor.
The court heard that, between 2016 and 2019, the Irishman had several conversations with the young girl on WhatsApp during which he asked her to send him nude photos and even participate in orgies.
According to prosecutors, he abused his capacity as the team’s coach to inappropriately fondle the child, often asking her for massages or to sit on his lap under the pretence of congratulating her on a good game.
Although the Prosecutor’s Office initially asked for a six-year prison sentence for the defendant given the prolonged sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16, the court, the private prosecution and the defence reached a plea deal this week.
The Irishman has been convicted and slapped with a two-year sentence, which has been suspended provided several conditions are met, and he will have to pay the victim and her family 9,000 euros in compensation.
In other news: British man, 26, arrested for rape in Mallorca
Image: Pexels
Loading
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268