Afghan Man Receives Six-year Jail Term For Indecent Exposure

A 36 year old Afghan national, Akbar Moqadar, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment with the final 12 months suspended after his conviction for orally raping a vulnerable woman with intellectual disability inside a steam room at a swimming pool in County Clare.

The attack took place in August 2022 and the sentence was delivered on Monday, 02 Februrary 2026, at the Central Criminal Court where Moqadar who maintains his innocence was found guilty following a trial last December.

In a victim impact statement the woman told the court she felt embarrassed and could not believe what had happened.

“I cant understand how any strange man would do that to me” she said worried that seeing him would ruin everything for her.

Mr Justice Patrick McGrath noted the “grave effect” of the offence on the woman including the impact on her independence the IRISH EXAMINER reported.

The vulnerable woman said her life has changed as her independence has been affected and she has not been to the swimming pool since the incident.

The eight minute ordeal unfolded when the woman entered the steam room for relaxation and encountered Moqadar who exposed himself then forced her head toward his pen!s despite her refusal.

She managed to pull away but he briefly blocked her exit leaving her retching and deeply shaken.

Gardai obtained Moqadar details from pool records after the woman disclosed the horror to her social worker the next day.

CCTV footage from outside the steam room captured movements before and after the assault confirming the sequence of events.

Moqadar admitted being at the facility during his interview but offered conflicting accounts first claiming the encounter was consensual then denying any physical contact occurred.

The court heard he had no prior connection to the victim and did not know her before that day.

Mr Justice McGrath accepted defence submissions that Moqadar was unaware of the woman intellectual disability while considering the steam room conditions with dim lighting and heavy steam when setting a headline sentence of eight years.

The judge reduced the term to seven years, accounting for the extra hardships faced by a foreign national with limited English serving time in an Irish prison.

The final 12 months were suspended for three years under probation supervision and the sentence backdated to December when custody began.