A CONVICTED serial flasher, who entered a female patient’s room at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) and masturbated in front of the terrified woman while she was recovering from surgery, has been jailed.
Kadima Mbuye, (53), of no fixed abode, had eight previous convictions including six convictions for exposing his genitals and masturbating in public places, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Gardaí were called to UHL on March 31, 2023, and arrested Mr Mbuye. However they could not detain him because the offence of exposure and masturbating in public, which comes under Section 45 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, does not permit Gardaí the power of detention as it carries a maximum sentence of less than four years.
A Garda file was subsequently sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which included witness statements from the victim, the prosecuting Garda, and a nurse at UHL. The DPP then directed Mr Mbuye be arrested and charged.
Gardaí charged Mr Mbuye before Limerick District Court on July 2, 2023, and remanded him in custody.
Mr Mbuye, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was given the opportunity to have the case dealt with in the district court on a signed plea and face a maximum six months sentence.
However, he contested the matter and was convicted by a jury at Limerick Circuit Court on January 15 last.
Mr Mbuye is seeking international protection in Ireland, his barrister, Liam Carroll, instructed by solicitor Ian McNamara of Darach McCarthy Solicitors, told the court.
Mr Carroll said Mr Mbuye “is subject to a deportation order, which takes effect upon his release from prison”.
Outlining the facts at a sentencing hearing on Monday (January 22), prosecuting senior counsel Lily Buckley said Mr Mbuye entered the victim’s room in the hospital at 4am on the night in question, passing through a privacy curtain that had been pulled around the woman’s bed.
Mr Mbuye, who was also a patient at the hospital at the time but was not known to the victim, stood at the end of the woman’s bed, opened his trousers, exposed his genitals, and “began masturbating in front of the victim”.
‘Closed her eyes in the hope he would leave’
Ms Buckley said the victim at the time was in her bed suffering from post-operative pain and discomfort after having undergone surgery.
The victim told Gardaí she was “terrified” during the incident and said she “closed her eyes, in the hope he would leave”.
“Pretending to be asleep”, the victim pressed an alarm call button, however Mr Mbuye “continued masturbating” while the bell rang in a nurses’ station situated nearby.
The court heard there was no CCTV in the victim’s room, but Mr Mbuye was identified by his skin colour and because he used a walking frame.
Ms Buckley said a special care attendant, who had been employed by a third party agency and who was Mr Mbuye’s carer on the night, “was asked to make a statement but declined”.
The victim told the court she continues to suffer “flashbacks” of the night, has trouble sleeping, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic-stress-disorder as a result of the incident.
She said she “had delayed or not returned to the hospital for medical check-ups” because of her fear of meeting Mr Mbuye again.
‘He will face the reality of being deported’
Mr Mbuye’s defence barrister, Liam Carroll BL, said his client did not accept the jury’s verdict. Mr Carroll said he could offer little by way of mitigation, but asked the court to take into account that Mr Mbuye was in poor health and “is a foreign national”.
“The courts will appreciate that foreign nationals who find themselves in custody tend to have a more difficult time than Irish-born nationals,” Mr Carroll said.
“The higher courts have accepted that that is a reason for the court to contemplate giving a lower sentence.
“At some stage he will face the reality of being deported back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and that is something he considers punitive as well.”
Judge Tom O’Donnell said he did not consider the deportation order to be a mitigating factor, however, taking into account Mr Mbuye’s mental state at the time, the judge remarked, “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist” to conclude Mr Mbuye has “psychological difficulties”.
The judge said the details of the evidence was “deeply disturbing” and exacerbated by Mr Mbuye’s previous convictions for similar offences.
He imposed a sentence of 20 months, backdating the sentence to July 2, 2023, “to give the accused credit” for time he had served in custody whilst on remand.
The judge ordered restrictions prohibiting reporting the identity of the victim.
