May 2014 Ex-HSE paramedic jailed over sex abuse of boys after social media contact A former HSE paramedic has been jailed for five and a half years for sexually assaulting three young boys in separate incidents, after he used false identities to contact each victim by text message or on Facebook. Alan Coughlan (42), of Elm Mount Park, Beaumont, Dublin 9 pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and four counts of defilement of children under the age of 17 between 2009 and 2011. He also admitted possessing 29 images of child abuse images in a scrap book at his north Dublin home on November 24, 2011. Coughlan’s sentence hearing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that 18 of those images were considered to be in the most serious category of child pornography. Judge Mary Ellen Ring said the charges were very serious and that Coughlan had sought out three children by using social media and other contacts to build up trust. She said he had used false names, ages and images to suggest that he was a teenager and had abused the children at a “particularly vulnerable” stage of their development. Judge Ring noted that the effects of such abuse could be lifelong. Gardaí were alerted to the offences after Coughlan sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy in the back of his jeep in a shopping centre car-park on November 20, 2011. The victim’s friends saw him getting into Coughlan’s jeep and contacted gardaí, who later arrested the accused and searched his home. Gardaí seized several mobile phones and downloaded the contents, which lead them to Coughlan’s two earlier victims. Detective Garda Brendan Mears gave evidence on the most recent offence involving the youngest victim, who was 12 years old at the time. He told told Anne Rowland BL, prosecuting, that Coughlan got in touch with the boy some months previously, in around May 2011. The boy told gardaí that one of his friends had written his phone number on a bus and that Coughlan had later contacted him. The boy was with his friends when he got a text of a sexual nature from Coughlan ending with euro signs, asking if he wanted to meet in the car park of a local shopping centre. The boy went to the shopping centre with his friends, one of whom saw him getting into Coughlan’s jeep. The boy later told gardaí that Coughlan sexually assaulted him, including performing oral sex, before giving him €25. His friends said he told them what had happened and was very upset and crying. Coughlan arranged to meet the boy the following week, and the boy’s friends said they would come too and get the registration of the jeep and contact the guards. The boy said he planned to beat Coughlan up. On that day, his friends saw the black jeep pulling in to collect the boy. They texted the boy to say “Come back” but then they saw him getting into Coughlan’s jeep. One of his friends took the registration number and rang the guards. Coughlan sexually assaulted the boy in the carpark of a church, gave him €20 and then dropped him back. Gardaí stopped the jeep a short time later and arrested Coughlan. They later found child porn locked in a gun safe at his home, where he lived with his elderly mother. In a victim impact statement, the boy said he was unhappy, angry and upset and had flashbacks of what had happened and cut himself several times. Gardaí used Coughlan’s mobile phones to contact two earlier victims who later made statements. The first boy said he was 15 years old when got a text message from someone he didn’t know sometime between June 2009 and June 2010. The conversation turned sexual and Coughlan told the boy he was 28 years old and suggested that they meet up. They met at a city centre shopping centre and Coughlan drove the victim to his home. He gave the boy vodka and drank some himself, and then sexually assaulted him in his bedroom before driving him home. On another occasion, Coughlan drove the victim to a carpark outside Dublin and told him to get into the back of his jeep, which had blacked out windows. The boy was screaming at him to stop but he sexually assaulted him forcefully, including anal penetration. The victim kicked Coughlan, got out of the jeep and ran home crying. After this incident the victim tried to hang himself and overdosed on sleeping tablets. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a period and in a victim impact statement, he says he still gets constant flashbacks. He said he wanted to end his life at that time because he felt “worthless”. The third victim was 15 or 16 when Coughlan sent him a friend request on Facebook and posted a photo of a teenage boy which he claimed was himself. They exchanged private messages for two months and arranged to meet up in Dublin city centre before Christmas 2011. They drove to the Phoenix Park and Coughlan sexually assaulted the boy and performed oral sex even though the victim had asked him to stop. Afterwards Coughlan gave the victim €15 and dropped him home. Coughlan has no previous convictions. Judge Mary Ellen Ring noted that although Coughlan had pleaded guilty to the offences, he initially denied any involvement and took a trial date, causing considerable anxiety for all those affected who thought they would have to come to court. She said the aggravating factors include the young ages of the victims, the trauma they suffered and the fact that he had paid them money. She said the payment of money to the victim suggests prostitution-like activity, when there had been no such arrangement. Judge Ring said the mitigating factors include Coughlan’s efforts at rehabilitation and his previous good record. The court accepted that Coughlan was genuinely remorseful. Bernard Condon SC, defending, said his client has benefited from 120 hours of group psychotherapy. He said Coughlan has lost his job as a paramedic and is willing to undergo any rehabilitation services offered to him in prison or on his release. Coughlan took to the stand to apologise to his victims. “I find it difficult to find the words to describe the feelings of guilt and shame which I have brought upon myself and my family, the victims and their families,” he said. He said he understood the “far-reaching devastating effects” on the victims and their families. Judge Ring sentenced Coughlan to seven years in prison with the final 18 months suspended. She ordered that he be supervised by the Probation Services for 18 months on his release. The sentence was backdated to November 11, 2013.