Man who defiled baby is called ‘dirty, horrible scumbag’ by boy's mother in court
Judge said it was 'depravity of the highest order with an infant child'
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THERE were emotional scenes in Limerick Circuit Criminal Court this Friday morning as a mother told the man, who engaged in a sexual act with her baby boy, he was a “dirty, ugly, horrible, smelly scumbag".
The woman went over to the accused as he was being led away by prison officers at the end of the sentencing hearing and verbally berated him.
Judge Tom O’Donnell lifted reporting restrictions on the defendant - Jamie Marshall, aged 35, who is a native of Limerick. The judge told media in attendance not to name the mother, the child or give Mr Marshall’s address as his parents reside there.
Mr Marshall pleaded guilty to five charges - engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 15, possession of child pornography, knowingly distributing child pornography, knowingly producing child pornography and use of information and communication technology to facilitate sexual exploitation of child.
The evidence in the case was heard on Thursday.
Judge O’Donnell put matters back to this Friday to consider his verdict.
In giving his verdict, the judge said he would not go into the “graphic details”.
Judge O’Donnell said the behaviour of Mr Marshall was “vile, egregious, despicable and appalling”. He said it was “depravity of the highest order with an infant child”. The judge spoke of the “psychological damage” suffered by the mother.
Judge O’Donnell took into account the accused’s early guilty pleas, remorse expressed and the avoidance of a trial.
The judge handed down a six-year jail sentence with the last two years suspended on each of the five charges to be served concurrently. They were backdated to May 2, 2023, when Mr Marshall first entered custody.
The mother of the child wished to waive her right to anonymity but she cannot be named as it would identify the child.
She told media at the conclusion of the case she would have preferred if he got longer (in jail).
“Four years for such horrible acts and uploading them - I think it's an absolute joke. It was too nice to him,” said the woman, who hoped the DPP appeals the sentence on grounds of leniency.
“I was hoping for at least 10 years. I’m not happy with the sentence at all. I wanted closer to 10 years definitely. I am distraught by it all,” she said.
The woman wished to thank the messaging mobile app Kik for reporting the videos and images, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in America, gardai and especially Detective Garda John O’Neill.