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Date Published: 23/03/2023

ARCHIVED - Irish rugby coach in Mallorca handed suspended sentence for child abuse

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The 28-year-old was convicted of abusing a 12-year-old girl while living in Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Irish rugby coach in Mallorca handed suspended sentence for child abuse

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

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