A convicted IRA terrorist who sexually assaulted two children when he was a teenager has been released from court after being placed on probation.
arcy Gearoid McMenamin (47) from Glen Road, Drumquin, who was released under the Good Friday Agreement, first appeared in court in 2020, a week after being deported from the United States.
During an earlier bail application, a police officer referred to McMenamin’s convictions for violence and explosive crimes, pointing out, “The victims are terrified.”
Dungannon Crown Court has heard how victim 1 was seven years old when McMenamin said he had “a little friend who would like to play”.
He placed the child’s hand on his bare genitals and stated that this was their secret and that if she told anyone, “bad men would get her mom and dad”.
The child was targeted a second time when McMenamin “reminded her of their secret”.
She fled but McMenamin followed, put his hand on her leggings and performed a sexual act, “the sheer force of which lifted her off the ground.”
He put his hand over the child’s mouth and warned that she would be taken away if she told.
Victim 2 was eight years old when she played hide and seek with friends and found herself alone with McMenamin in a shed, where he made her perform oral sex on hm.
Judge Brian Sherrard told McMenamin: “If it were committed today, one of these offenses would be rape, potentially punishable by life imprisonment. I take into account the extreme vulnerability of the victims and the very large age differences. You violated their safety. They still feel the impact of that to this day.”
“Both continue to suffer from intrusive thoughts. All this will be left on your doorstep.”
He added: “This court heard their lived experiences of childhood sexual abuse and its terrible, lingering aftermath.
These appear to have been opportunistic transgressions, but their repetition betrays a degree of planning. Making threats adds significantly to culpability. It is extremely frightening and harmful to a child to be threatened with the loss of his family.”
McMenamin was placed on probation for three years and will remain on the sex offender registry for five years.
