A Kerry man who violently sexually assaulted a woman with learning disabilities has been sentenced to 8 years in prison.

The man in his 30’s pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault at the Central Criminal Court last November, after seeing video footage of the victim’s testimony.

The Court heard that on the 29th of July 2011, the accused called to the house of the victim – asked her to have a party and, when she refused he returned half an hour later and entered with force.

He knocked the woman to the floor and proceeded to have non consensual sex with her.

Gardaí were called to the scene later that night and found the victim shocked and agitated, with a blanket around her naked body and a cigarette burn on her eye.

The woman, who was in her late 50’s, suffered from mild intellectual disabilities and had been living in local authority accommodation.

Judge Tony Hunt told the Court that an aggravating factor of this case was the fact that the assault took place in the living room of the victim, and noted that the victim is no longer able to live independently.

The main mitigating circumstance in a ‘difficult and distressing case', the Judge said, was that the accused had changed his plea, although late after seeing the woman's video testimony - therefore he would suspend the last four years of a 12 year term and sentenced the man to 8 years behind bars.