A GANG who repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted a teenage girl were caged for a combined 66 years yesterday.
At the sentencing hearing, Justice Tara Burns told the five thugs they had acted like "animals".
She added they had "peddled the lie" that the victim, who was 17 at the time and in school, had consented.
Read More: Five men who attacked Irish teen on way home from night out unmasked as brave victim speaks out
Four were convicted of rape, one of sexual assault.
The victim, now in her early 20s, was repeatedly assaulted and raped after she got into a car after a night out in Tullamore, Co Offaly, in the early hours of December 27, 2016.
The judge told the court: "Women are not playthings, consent is not a decision for the perpetrators. Because a woman doesn't call out or fight does not mean she is consenting.
"How was she to know what would become of her if she fought back or attempted to escape?
"It is from her perspective the issue of consent must be considered, not what the accused would like it to be afterwards."
Earlier this week, the Irish Mirror unmasked Marcos Vinicius De Silva Umbelino, Eduardo Dias Ferreira Filho, Gabriel Gomes Da Rocha, Conor Byrne and Ethan Nikolaou.
They had desperately tried to hide their faces throughout the trial.
They are now beginning lengthy sentences behind bars in a case the judge described as "horrifying".
Justice Burns told the Central Criminal Court the nature of the rapes, one after the other and in front of others who had or would rape the victim, was "degradation of the most extreme level".
She said even without the use of violence, "the act of a gang rape is offending behaviour of the most serious kind".
And she added that in this case, "the gang rape was accompanied by filming" where a "gang of men" stood around outside a car in which a young woman was being violated.
The teenager had been out celebrating St Stephen's Day but became separated from her friends in the early hours.
Her phone was not working so, after waiting 20 minutes for a taxi, she decided to walk to a pal's house nearby where she knew she could stay.
As she walked, a Volkswagen Passat - which had circled the town 15 times - pulled up with Umbelino driving. Da Rocha was in the passenger seat while Filho, Byrne and Nikolaou were in the back.
Nikolaou, who knew of her from social media but not personally, had shouted out her name. The teenager got into the car, thinking it was her friends, and lay down across the men in the back seat.
Soon after, the judge said, her "nightmare began" as she was sexually assaulted by Filho and Nikolaou.
She then got into the front with Da Rocha. At this stage she was visibly upset but he also molested her as did driver Umbelino.
At one point the victim heard one of the men say: "Ah lads she's good, we are all getting it tonight."
The car was parked up at a remote location near Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, and all of the men got out.
Da Rocha got back in naked and raped her. Umbelino then raped her
Byrne followed, also raping her before asking if she was on the pill. Nikolaou got into the car next while naked and sexually assaulted her.
The woman previously told the court that at the time she felt "paralysed", adding: "Like my body and mind went into autopilot and I froze up. I was going nowhere. I was in a car."
As Nikolaou committed his second sex assault, Umbelino recorded it.
Yesterday, Justice Burns said the offending was aggravated by the films being taken as the girl was "being violated against her will in front of the men who had raped and would rape her - this depravity is absolutely shocking". She added: "I reject out of hand the contention that it falls within the mid-range of offending. It does not."
Byrne and Nikolaou were subsequently dropped off in Kilbeggan before the car was driven to Whitehall car park in Tullamore.
The victim asked to leave the vehicle but Da Rocha and Filho stopped her. Both were convicted of falsely imprisoning her at this point.
Da Rocha then raped her again at the same time as she was orally raped by Filho .
The girl was finally released from the car and given assistance by male friends who helped her and brought her to the Garda station.
Justice Burns said: "For all of the awfulness of this case, these men's assistance shines out as a beacon. These young men knew a terrible deed had been committed."
The probe was led by Detective Sergeant David Scahill and Detective Sergeant Caroline Lyng along with a large investigation team based at Tullamore Garda Station.
Justice Burns handed down Umbelino, the only one not to show any remorse following conviction, a sentence of 14 years for rape. The 22-year-old, of Riverview, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, also got two four-year sentences for sexual assault.
Filho, 24, was jailed for 17 years for oral rape. The dad-of-one, also of Riverview, Kilbeggan, was given four-anda-half years for sexual assault and eight years for false imprisonment.
Da Rocha, of Mount Armstrong, Rahan, Tullamore, Co Offaly, was handed down a 19-year sentence for his first rape on the girl and 15 years for the second rape.
The 24-year-old also got four-anda-half years for sexual assault and eight years for false imprisonment Byrne, the fourth man to rape the teen, was given a 10-year sentence.
The 24-year-old, of Ballybeg, Moate, Co Westmeath, was the only defendant to enter a guilty plea.
Nikolaou, 23, was handed down a sentence of six years and four years for two sexual assaults. All sentences are to run concurrently.
Justice Burns said the woman had been out in a small country town she thought was safe, which she was entitled to believe.
She added: "Even if it wasn't her friends coming back for her, she could reasonably assume that boys her own age from the same area would get her home. She was entitled to assume that society works in some civilised fashion where there is respect for a female.
"Little did she know that she got into a car with people devoid of respect for her or themselves."
Justice Burns hailed the victim, who bravely took the stand to give evidence before facing the gang on Monday to deliver a powerful victim impact statement.
Speaking to her directly she said: "I wish I wasn't the judge and I could say something comforting. You are an absolutely amazing young woman.
"It is not often we see such humility and ability to conduct yourself with absolute dignity. I have been absolutely taken aback by your ability to conduct yourself in such a manner I can't put into words."
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