<p>
	A 78-year-old man who sexually assaulted a two year old boy at a child minders in Co Limerick has been given a two-year suspended jail sentence.</p>
<p>
	James Kett of Faha, Patrickswell, Co Limerick, abused the boy in a bathroom of the child minders which he had access to, on 12 October 2011, three weeks before the toddler&#39;s third birthday.</p>
<p>
	Limerick Circuit Court heard the incident took place when the man was left in charge of a number of children for ten minutes while the childminder went to collect another child.</p>
<p>
	Later that night when the victim&#39;s mother was getting her son ready for bed he said &quot;yum yum, my mickey mac&quot;, the term he used to describe his penis, and referred to an older man.</p>
<p>
	The mother told her husband what happened, and he went to the child minder and the Gardai were alerted.</p>
<p>
	Special garda interviewers were tasked with questioning the child who was too young to be interviewed on camera, the court heard.</p>
<p>
	The little boy repeated to interviewers what he had said to his mother and told them his clothes were off at the time as they were wet.</p>
<p>
	In her evidence Garda Deirdre Foley said the child moved his mouth towards his penis when he was describing what had happened.</p>
<p>
	The court heard how the child minder co-operated fully with the Garda investigation and was gobsmacked about what happened.</p>
<p>
	She told garda&iacute; that the parents of the children she minded were aware that occasionally she would have to leave for ten minutes, but there was always somebody supervising the children.</p>
<p>
	After his arrest Mr Kett who pleaded guilty, admitted &quot;fiddling&quot; with the boy&#39;s penis for a minute and a half but denied any oral contact.</p>
<p>
	The widower who will be 79 next month, said it had never happened before and said it was opportunistic.</p>
<p>
	When asked if he had enjoyed it the pensioner replied: &quot;I won&#39;t say that I didn&#39;t&quot;</p>
<p>
	However he insisted he didn&#39;t get aroused.</p>
<p>
	The child minder was shocked when she learned about the incident and fully co-operated with gardai and the subsequent HSE inquiry.</p>
<p>
	The court heard while a number of parents removed their children from her care some remained.</p>
<p>
	The child minder has since closed her business, and the HSE investigation into the matter has been closed.</p>
<p>
	Counsel for the State John O&#39;Sulivan said the toddler&#39;s parents did not wish to make a victim impact statement but were anxious to have the matter finalised.</p>
<p>
	They are happy with their son&#39;s progress and he has shown no ill effects of the incident which he hasn&#39;t mentioned since.</p>
<p>
	Defence Counsel Brian McInerney said his client apologised unreservedly and said he was &quot;disgusted with himself&quot;.</p>
<p>
	He added it was an &quot;isolated aberration in an otherwise unblemished life&quot;.</p>
<p>
	The court was told Mr Kett&#39;s wife died when his only child was three years old, and that he was recently diagnosed with cancer and has a tracheotomy.</p>
<p>
	Mr McInerney questioned what benefit to society would be served by imposing a custodial sentence on his client who had no previous convictions.</p>
<p>
	Before imposing sentence Judge Carroll Moran said that Mr Kett was in a position of trust which he had broken and betrayed.</p>
<p>
	Judge Moran said the child was very young and not in a position to resist.</p>
<p>
	He said it was in the public&#39;s interest to know that the offence had occurred in a child minders but ordered that further details of the location or owner not be reported.</p>
<p>
	Judge Moran imposed a two-year prison sentence which he suspended for four years.</p>
<p>
	He also ordered that James Kett&#39;s name be added to the Sex Offenders Register for five years.</p>
<p>
	http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1022/654201-james-kett/</p>
