Craig O’Connell, 26, from Cork, convinced a 16-year-old girl he was a drug lord and coerced her into have sex with him, claiming she owed him over a debt, a court heard
A man claiming to be a drug lord who coerced a teenage girl into having sex claiming she owed him over a drug debt has been jailed.
Craig O’Connell, aged 26, convinced the then 16-year-old he was a member of a criminal gang, then later claimed he’d been caught with €12,000 of drugs, accusing her of informing on him.
He told the girl that she could repay the money, have sex with him or that other men would go to her home to hurt her and “butcher” her family.
The girl agreed to have sex with O’Connell, believing she had no other option and he recorded her performing a sexual act, telling her he needed to provide proof.
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Afterwards, O’Connell told her she still owed him €2,000, and she sent him jewellery and other items in an attempt to reduce this debt.
He got a total of €11,555 from the girl, including her mother’s wedding band and a €6,500 engagement ring – which was later recovered – a tablet device, cash and €457 from three bank cards. Gardai believe O’Connell’s claims that he was a member of a criminal gang and was caught with €12,000 of drugs are not true.
O’Connell of Hollyhill, Co. Cork pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the girl on January 5, 2024, at a hotel. He also threatened the girl’s former boyfriend, accused him of being a rat and falsely told the boy he owed a debt of €45,000. The boy, at the time 18, sold drugs for O’Connell in Limerick, Galway and Cork to try to repay this debt.
O’Connell pleaded guilty to making demands with menace to the then 18-year-old on October 27, 2023. His 62 previous convictions included 14 for deception, four for burglary and three drug offences. O’Connell was also on bail at the time.
At a sentence hearing last Thursday, Justice David Keane imposed a sentence of 11 years for the rape offence and a concurrent six-year term on the offence of making a demand with menace, reported CorkBeo.
Justice Keane said that the defendant had offered the pleas “on full facts” and was asking the court to “take into consideration” other charges of theft, oral rape, production of “child pornography” and coercion of a child to engage with the production of “child pornography”.
He said this meant O’Connell was admitting he had carried out these acts. Justice Keane said that one of the aggravating factors was the abuse of trust. He said O’Connell created a relationship of trust by befriending the two victims, which he then abused through a series of elaborate and brazen lies.
He convinced the girl that she was under his protection and that he was trying to assist her rather than ruthlessly exploit her. He told her that it was necessary to record her to prove to the gang that she had done this. “He was presenting himself as her protector than the calculating predator that he actually was,” he said.
He said that O’Connell’s actions were all deliberately planned to terrify and coerce the victims. He said that by recording the oral rape, O’Connell created an added degree of degradation to the girl.
The judge suspended the final two years of the 11 year sentence on conditions including that O’Connell keep the peace and be of good behaviour, accept the supervision of the Probation Service and engage in offence and victim-focused work with the Probation Service.
He also set a condition that O’Connell attend for assessment for sex offender treatment work and complete any he is deemed a suitable candidate for. He also ordered O’Connell to be under post-release supervision for two years.
In a victim statement, the girl said she has changed as a person since she was “raped, abused and threatened”. She said she no longer feels safe in public and experiences panic attacks, even when she feels her best, “as if the trauma wants to remind me I am a rape victim”.
She said she will carry this as a weight on her shoulders for the rest of her life, but “will carry it proudly as I survived”. The girl thanked her family and friends for their support.
In his victim impact statement, the boy said O’Connell introduced him to cocaine, and he is now trying to get sober after developing an addiction. The boy said he is isolated, suffers with sleep and trust issues and hasn’t been able to return to work.
