MINISTER’S BROTHER SEXUALLY ASSAULTED SCHOOLGIRL IN SHOP
Bread delivery man ‘stalked girl on country road’ after attack
THE brother of a Fine Gael minister has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a schoolgirl working in a shop last summer.
John Ring had initially denied the sexual assault on the 17-year-old, who was alone at the rural store.
But at Galway Circuit Criminal Court this week, the 48-year-old bread delivery man admitted his guilt after the prosecution outlined the disturbing details of the girl’s ordeal in court.
Ring is a brother of Michael Ring, the Junior Tourism and Sport Minister, who is himself a Fine Gael constituency colleague of Enda Kenny.
The court heard that one afternoon John Ring preyed on the teenage girl, who was alone in a Co. Galway shop where she had a summer job.
Shockingly, he only stopped his sexual assault of the girl when another customer entered. But after leaving, he returned again and proceeded to taunt his victim by staring at her, then stalked
her in his car as she went home for lunch. John Ring re-entered the shop later that day and ogled the girl once again, the trial also heard.
Conor Fahy, prosecuting, said John Ring called at a Co. Galway shop on July 22 last year.
The predator, who is in a relationship, began by asking for a packet of slim cigarettes but she could not find any. He then asked the teenager if she had a boyfriend but she kept looking at the cigarette display. He proceeded to lean in over the counter and asked her did she ever get a sore back.
The girl told Ring she did not have the cigarettes and he left and went out and sat in his van, the court was told.
But Mr Fahy said John Ring returned a few minutes later and
‘He had his hands on her neck’
called her down to the back of the shop which was empty at the time on the pretext he was looking for something.
He pinned her in the corner and put his hands either side of her neck, telling her he was a physiotherapist, the court heard.
The girl later told gardaí John Ring had held her against her will and was very rough. She told him to stop but he would not, jurors heard. She said he was pushing his groin against her backside and she knew he was aroused.
Mr Fahy told the jury: ‘He put his knee between her legs and told her to spread them while putting his hand inside her shirt. She was afraid to shout out because he had his hands on her neck.’
It was only when a customer came into the shop that Ring let the girl go.
As he left the shop, the jury was told he said to the victim: ‘Well, you aren’t shy.’
Mr Fahy said the girl saw Ring get into a big white van outside but he did not leave. He came back into the shop again and stared at the teenager but he then left when the shop filled with customers.
The girl had been working alone at the store at the time as she was left in charge at lunchtime, the court heard.
At 2pm that day, the girl’s boss came back and she began to walk home alone for her lunch-hour along a narrow road.
Ring passed by in his van, but then returned along the roadway and blocked her path. He beckoned her over to the driver’s window but she refused to go near him.
She crossed to the other side of the road, but an oncoming car forced her to stand next to the passenger’s side of Ring’s van.
He scribbled his mobile number on a piece of paper and gave it to the girl through the passenger’s window, inviting her to call him, the court heard.
At around 5pm that evening he returned to the same shop and bought a bottle of water.
The girl had to serve him. He kept staring at her but she refused to make eye contact with him.
Ring initially pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault when he appeared for trial before Galway Circuit Criminal Court earlier this week. He also denied a second charge of harassing the girl on the same date.
A jury of seven men and five women had been empanelled to hear evidence in the trial, which was expected to last three days. However, Ring changed his plea to guilty of sexual assault following Mr Fahy’s outline of the facts.
Mr Fahy said the plea to the sexual assault charge was acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the basis that facts in the harassment charge were admitted. Eoin Garavan, defending, asked for a probation report on his client prior to sentence. He said Ring was
Initially pleaded not guilty
aged 48, had no previous convictions – apart from minor road traffic offences – and was in a stable relationship and was employed.
Judge Karen O’Connor remanded Ring, of Dún Beag, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, on continuing bail for sentence in March.