A man has been jailed for six years for raping a woman on a Dublin city centre street in what the judge described as “the most public and humiliating manner”.
Jose Lacerna Pena, a 32-year-old Bolivian man who moved to Ireland to learn English, denied the charge and continues to maintain his innocence.
The then 19-year-old woman had been out with friends and was very drunk as she made her way up Wicklow Street in Dublin in the early hours of September 26th 2017.
Jose Lacerna Pena had also been out, and could be seen approaching her on CCTV footage.
He began walking alongside her and talking to her, and the jury was told he then forced her to give him oral sex on the street.
Two young students intervened.
They said she looked distressed and very upset, and seemed to be trying to scream.
Pena claimed he had no recollection of what happened.
He told gardaí he just remembered kissing her, but claimed it was consensual.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott said it was clear she didn’t consent to what happened, and questioned Pena’s lack of memory.
He noted the woman has since suffered panic attacks and depression, and her otherwise outgoing and bubbly self has now become withdrawn.
Pena, who is now 32, was jailed for six years.
