IN THE WAKE of court appearances this week in relation to the alleged sexual assault of a young girl in Citywest, Dublin, a wave of online criticism has been levelled at the media and courts for not naming the suspect.

Under Irish law, individuals accused of certain sexual offences cannot be publicly identified before a conviction.

A man was brought before Blanchardstown District Court charged over the alleged sexual assault of a young girl in west Dublin at the start of the week.

The accused (26) appeared briefly before Judge John Brennan shortly after 10.30am on Tuesday.

Detective Sergeant Sinead Connolly told the court that the man was arrested at 3.58am at Clondalkin Garda Station the previous day.

She told the court that he was charged by Sergeant Neil O’Brien.

His reply after caution was “I have nothing to say”.

The man was accused of assaulting the young girl at Garter Lane, the roadway that leads alongside the front of the Citywest complex, in the early hours of Monday morning.

The court was asked to assign an Arabic interpreter, which was granted by the judge.

The man was further remanded in custody in a second court appearance at Cloverhill on Wednesday, when the judge ordered that he be medically and psychiatrically assessed.

After the hearing, Judge Mitchell noted that there was a “heightened level of security” at the court and asked the Garda present whether this would continue for future hearings. The Garda indicated that it would.

There has been no application for bail.

Questions have been raised on social media as to why the man cannot be named.

However, naming the accused is illegal under the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981.

The version of this law that is currently enacted has a section called Anonymity of accused, which says: “After a person is charged with an applicable offence no matter likely to lead members of the public to identify him as the person against whom the charge is made shall be published or broadcast.”

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024 defines such “applicable offences” to include, among other crimes, “a sexual assault offence”.

In other words: media outlets cannot publish identifiable information about people charged before the courts in sexual assault cases.

That 2024 act expanded the blanket anonymity for suspects from solely rape cases to a wider range of sex crimes.

The law sets out that a person can be identified post-conviction as long as the anonymity of the victim is not compromised. 

Judges often also issue orders prohibiting reporting on cases involving children, typically taking a cautious approach to letting any information that may identify the child from being aired in the public sphere — including the identity of the accused.

The suspect in the Citywest sexual assault case remains in custody, and is expected to appear in court again on 5 November.

With reporting by Jane Moore.