Staff at a hospital in Wexford town are said to be "disgusted" by the appointment of a new hospital porter after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor.
54-year-old Ray Roche returned to his role as a porter for the HSE in a new location at Ely Hospital on the Tincone Road – one year after his conviction.
Previous to his conviction, Mr Roche had plied his trade as a porter at Wexford General Hospital.
In 2021, Mr Roche was found guilty of assaulting an 8-year-old girl when he was a minor himself. The woman, who came forward in 2017, alleged that he "used his penis against her buttocks and sometimes ejaculated on her."
Mr Roche was handed a two-year sentence for the crime which was said to have had a "profound effect" on the victim's life ever since. However, two of those years were suspended by the presiding judge given the time that had elapsed, and that the defendant had a clean record following the abuse.
At the time the judge noted that it was disappointing that it took a full trial for Mr Roche to provide an apology.
The Irish Independent has since revealed that Mr Roche remains on the sex offender's register – despite his reappointment as a hospital porter by the HSE.
A spokesperson for the South East Hospital Group (HSE) has noted that they cannot comment on individual employees.
