A Donegal man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female while cross-dressing.
The man, who is aged in his 60s and cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Letterkenny Circuit Court this week.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault on a ‘without prejudice’ basis when he was formally arraigned before Judge John Aylmer.
The man was charged with a total of 14 counts of sexual assault and two charges of sexually exploiting a child.
The man spoke only to plead guilty to the single charge of sexual assault.
The charge is contrary to section 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act, 1990, as amended by section 37 of the Sex Offenders Act, 2001.
The charge relates to an incident, on a date unknown in 2015, that he sexually assaulted a female person by masturbating in front of her while cross-dressing and, at the same time, touching or rubbing her body.
The man stood with his head bowed as the charge was read to him by the court registrar.
All of the charges against the man related to the same female person at two locations in Donegal.
Barrister for the accused man, Mr Colm Smyth SC, said his client was tendering a guilty plea to one of the sexual assault counts on a without prejudice basis.
Mr Smyth told the court that the man has no previous or subsequent convictions and asked that legal aid be extended to cover a psychiatric assessment.
Judge John Aylmer granted the request and also ordered the preparation of a probation and welfare report, to include the accused’s suitability for community service.
The matter was adjourned to the October sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court and the man was granted bail on the same terms and conditions.
A publication order, preventing the man’s identity from being revealed, is in place in order to protect the identity of the female person.