Dublin Child Psychiatrist With Malaysian-Sounding Name Jailed For Sexual Abuse

The health practitioner has no prior criminal record and has been in detention for the past 14 months in connection with this offence.

A Dublin-based child psychiatrist named Amirul Arif Mohd Yunos, 38, was sentenced to prison by a court in Ireland after he was found guilty of grooming and sexually abusing a 15-year-old teenage girl, leaving her with “painful and grave trauma”.

While his name does sound like he is a Malaysian Malay, we can’t at this time verify this matter.

According to Irish media The Irish Times, Amirul was working in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) centre in Clonskeagh, Dublin, at the time he committed the offence last year.

The girl was not formally his patient but Amirul was known to her parents, who had asked him to treat their daughter, who was experience mental health difficulties, on an ad hoc basis.

It was reported that the girl was 15 years old when most of the incidents happened between May and June 2023, and was 16 when the final incident occured in September last year.

The health practitioner has no prior criminal record and has been in detention for the past 14 months in connection with this offence. 

Eight counts of child sexual abuse and exploitation

Amirul pleaded guilty to six counts of engaging in a sexual act with a child under 17, one count of sexual exploitation of a child, and one of meeting a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

“The abuse started with inappropriate touching, before escalating into oral sex and penetration,” said the Irish news outlet.

The victim impact statement, read to the court by the prosecution counsel, the girl said the abuse had left her with “painful and grave trauma”, and she blames herself as she felt she “induced” the abuse and “deserved it”.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court judge Orla Crowe was reported saying Amirul is “very fortunate his community and wife has stood by him”, referring to the testimonials submitted to the court.

Judge Crowe also said the court had reviewed testimonials, Amirul Arif’s apology letter, and a psychological report.

She highlighted that the psychological report mentioned he had a “promising career” but due to his crimes, he will not be able to work in this field in Ireland in the future. 

The judge imposed a sentence of eight and a half years, backdated to when he went into custody.

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