‘From today I am no longer a victim but a survivor’

Brave woman who was sexually groomed and abused as a young teenage girl and who waived her right to anonymity to enable the defendant be named says she hopes she can now start to heal

A WOMAN who was sexually groomed and abused as a young teenage girl in Co Meath seven years ago told Trim Circuit Court she was no longer a victim but a survivor

The woman who was aged 14 and 15 at the time of the offending waived her right to anonymity to enable the defendant be named in public.

Forty-four-year-old Anthony Smith of Rathgillen, Nobber pleaded guilty to the sexual exploitation of Aoife Lynch on diverse dates in 2014 and sexually assaulting her on a date unknown that year.

The court heard the defendant who was a family friend had often visited a house frequented by Ms Lynch and she began to confide in him about being bullied in school.

Sgt Martina Gallagher told prosecuting counsel Carl Hanahoe BL the girl trusted the defendant and felt he understood her.

Smith used to talk to the teenager a lot but then less frequently when other adults were around.

The court heard that social media contact between the two later developed into intimate physical contact initiated by the defendant when his visits to the house became more frequent before the girl broke off contact with him in September 2014.

The sergeant said that Smith had messaged Ms Lynch explicit sexual pictures of himself and had texted her on her 15th birthday saying he loved her.

The court also heard extracts from a diary kept by Ms Lynch detailing the offending.

The sergeant agreed with defence counsel Garnet Orange SC that the defendant seemed to have been grooming his victim on an ongoing basis and had convinced himself that he had a loving relationship with her.

In a lengthy impact statement Ms Lynch told the court she initially thought of Smith as a “knight in shining armour” as he had befriended her and given her advice when she was being bullied at school.

“He hugged me and told me everything would be ok”, she said.

She said as time went by he began hugging her and touching her intimately when they were alone which left her confused and trapped but feeling “too foolish to tell anyone what was happening”.

After receiving his text saying he loved her she said she was confused and overwhelmed and leading a double life as she tried to act normal.

She said that Smith's behaviour seriously affected her emotionally, mentally and physically. She became withdrawn from her friends and her school work suffered.

Even when her family expressed their concern she felt unable to reveal the abuse.

“Not being able to tell them what was happening was agonising”, she said and added “I was isolated, powerless and helpless but the most important thing was to protect my family from what he did”.

She said she had lost out on the enjoyment of her teenage years which had been replaced by abuse stress and depression.

The effects of the abuse had neither gone away nor eased but she had made a promise to herself to always do her best to help anyone else in a similar position.

Ms Lynch thanked her family and all those who had helped and supported her and the court for giving her the opportunity to be heard.

“I hope I can now start to heal. From today I am now longer a victim but a survivor,” she concluded.

The defendant's barrister told Ms Lynch his client apologised for and acknowledged the harm he had done.

Judge Patrick Quinn remanded Smith on bail to consider the evidence and a number of reports on the defendant and adjourned the case for sentence on 9th March.