A 52-year-old Clare man who had been living in Limerick city, was jailed at Limerick Circuit Court for engaging in sexual acts with an underage girl. Gerard Martin Maxwell, from Clare but living in a Limerick suburb, pleaded guilty to five counts of defiling the girl on dates between April and June 2007. The accused pleaded guilty to the five charges before the court that included oral sex and full sexual intercourse with the girl at various locations in the region, including an area of Cratloe Woods.

Judge Carroll Moran was told that a complaint was made to the ardai after the girl’s mother became suspicious. The girl confided in her mother and gardai were notified of the nature of the abuse, and at subsequent interviews with the accused, he made full and frank admissions as to his involvement.
A victim impact statement was read to the court and the girl described losing her “innocence,” and that she considered engaging in self harm.
Judge Carroll Moran heard that the man had himself been abused in his younger years.
Reports were submitted that the man knew of his wrong doing and that he was at low risk of re-offending, but Judge Carroll Moran said that these offences were “new and didn’t happen 20 or 30 years ago”.
Imposing a three year immediate custodial sentence for five counts of defiling the young girl in 2007, Judge Carroll Moran said that “society expects girls to be protected from such predatory acts”.
It was also an order of the court that Maxwell remains on the sex offenders register indefinitely.