Care home worker who sexually assaulted female colleague is ordered to sign Sex Offenders' Register
A care home worker who sexually assaulted a colleague has been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years.
Reeve Donnell Blanco (41), with an address listed as Ainsworth Street in Belfast, was also given a five months prison term, suspended for two years.
Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, was told that whilst at work the defendant gestured to a colleague for a hug and "during the hug" the defendant "groped" her "bottom" and "made eye contact in a manner which made her believe that he wanted to kiss".
The prosecutor said the defendant called his work colleague "hot and sexy for her age". It made her "feel very uncomfortable" and she left and "cried in the female toilets".
After giving a resident a shower the defendant told his colleague she "looked sweaty". He wrapped a towel around his hand and tried to pull her "by the t-shirt at the top of her neck" and the defendant "has proceeded to stick his hand down the back of the injured party's shirt in an attempt to dry sweat off". She was able to duck and move away.
The defendant had been convicted of the charge after previously contesting the case.
A defence barrister said the defendant had no record and was remorseful and acknowledged the impact on the victim. He said the defendant was assessed as a "low likelihood of general re-offending".
He said the defendant is from the Philippines and Probation and Community Service were "non-starters" as the defendant is "intending to return" there. He said the defendant's work visa is due to expire in May.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the custody threshold had been crossed and there were aggravating features. He said the sexual assault occurred in a place of work and the defendant had been convicted after a contest.
The judge said he had read a victim personal statement and she "sustained significant emotional trauma and this will no doubt live with her for a considerable period of time". He said the defendant was assessed by Probation as a "low risk of further offending".
The judge noted that because of the defendant's "personal circumstances" he was not a suitable candidate for a Community Order which ruled out "statutory intervention of a Probation Order and/or Community Service hours".
He handed down a five months prison sentence and "not without hesitation and only because you present as somebody with a clear record" he was suspending the sentence for two years. The defendant was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years.