8 years in prison for man who raped homeless woman in Limerick

The incident occurred in County Limerick in 2019

Cristian Gogosiou (37), of Mount Kenneth Place, Limerick, pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and one count of oral rape at a location in the county on 26 September 2019. He was found guilty of both counts by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in Limerick earlier this year.

The court heard that the woman, who cannot be named to protect her identity, was 31 at the time of the incident and was living in homeless accommodation and battling addiction.

She said she met a man who offered her 6,000 euros and jewelry if he allowed her to have sexual intercourse.

The woman said she had to use the bathroom and went down an alley. He pulled out a medium-sized switchblade knife and said he was going to “cut her insides out.” He pushed her against the wall and penetrated her vagina without her consent. A used condom was later found on the floor. She was taken to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit.

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Gardaí arrested Gogosiou on 16 September 2020 after working for over a year to identify him. He admitted having sex and oral sex with the woman, but said she offered to do it for money.

During questioning, he said he exploited vulnerable women “because it was easy.” He did not accept the jury’s verdict, the court said.

The court heard that Gogosiou, who is from Romania, has 37 previous convictions and 12 foreign offences in this jurisdiction. The court heard that the aggrieved party did not appear because they did not want to see Gogosiou again.

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In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said she was suffering from addiction issues at the time of the events.

She said she has been overwhelmed with emotion and great fear since the incident, and thought she shouldn’t bother going to the police because they wouldn’t believe a homeless person.

Judge Siobhan Lankford imposed a ten-year prison sentence and suspended the final two years of the sentence retroactively to May 23, 2022. She also placed Gogosiou on the sex offenders’ register.

She cited the use of a knife as an aggravating circumstance and the jury rejected her defense that she did it for the money.

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She said the offence fell into the category of a 12-year prison sentence, but this was reduced to 10 years because he is Romanian and must serve his sentence in an Irish prison. She also noted that he has three children, one of whom is in Romania.