Teenager groped by man in supermarket had to hand over counselling notes to court
Isabel Hayes
A young woman who was groped by a man in a supermarket when she was a teenager has told a court how degrading it was that her counselling notes were given to his defence team for his trial.
The then 16-year-old girl was helping her mother with the weekly grocery shop in a Dublin supermarket when she was sexually assaulted by Jasmin Nasic, who put his hand on her buttocks as he was walking by her.
Nasic (36), of Hillcrest Grove, Lucan, Co Dublin, was found guilty by a jury of one count of sexual assault and one count of engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature following a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial last month.
They are offences that carry a maximum sentence of 14 years and two years, respectively.
Giving her victim impact sentence at Nasic's sentence hearing on Friday, the young woman said that it took three years and nine months from the date of the offence to the date of his conviction.
“That is 1,375 days I have had to live with the consequences of this assault,” she told the court. She said prior to the assault, she was an innocent young girl. “It didn't even cross my mind that someone would do this to me,” she said.
She said Nasic's decision to plead not guilty meant going through a trial which caused her “stress, anxiety and sleepless nights”.
She said the trauma of having to hand over her counselling notes in advance of the trial was “degrading”.
Judge Martina Baxter commended the complainant after she had finished her statement, tell her she was “a great example for other young women”.
Garda Jennifer Desmond told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that the girl and her mother were grocery shopping on the day in question when the girl noticed a man coming towards her in one of the aisles. She didn't think too much of it until he then deliberately groped her buttock as he walked by her.
The young woman was shocked and called out to the man before finding her mother and telling her what happened. They came across Nasic in another aisle and the girl's mother confronted him, but he denied touching the girl.
He agreed to accompany them to the security station to look at CCTV footage but when the mother turned around, the man had left. They called 999 and Nasic was later identified from the CCTV footage.
He is originally from Croatia, has been living in Ireland since 2016 and has no previous convictions, the court heard.
Oisin Clarke BL, defending, said his client now accepts the verdicts of the jury and is remorseful for his actions. He handed in some testimonials from colleagues of the defendant. Nasic has worked consistently since coming to Ireland, including in admin in Trinity College and as a kitchen porter.
Mr Clarke said that the defence wished to let the complainant know that Nasic never had sight of her medical notes, and these were only reviewed by the legal team. They were not used in the trial, he said.
He said Nasic was a hardworking man who lived to work and send money home to his family in Croatia. He left his home country as a result of a violent dispute involving his father and brother.
Nasic will now be a registered sex offender, which will impact his employment and future travel prospects, the court heard.
Judge Baxter said Nasic needs to be assessed by the Probation Services in relation to possible recidivism.
“This was a young girl, a teenager,” she said, noting the young woman's bravery.
“The Probation Service needs to be engaged to make sure this doesn't happen again.”
She adjourned the matter to October 10th to allow a report to be prepared.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
