Alleged IRA man found guilty of raping two boys

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A jury found an alleged IRA member guilty of raping two teenage boys at a republican safe house in Co Louth. The proceedings were reported on 27 March 2019.

The man had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to charges of sexual assault and anal rape involving the two boys. The charges concerned dates in the early 1990s and in 2001.

On the sixth day of the trial, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on six counts of sexual assault and two counts of anal rape. It also acquitted him of one count of sexual assault and one count of anal rape relating to allegations from 2001, when the complainant concerned was in his 20s.

Detective Garda Seamus Nolan told defence counsel John Fitzgerald SC that gardaí had no intelligence of the accused being involved in any paramilitary organisation until the complainants made their allegations. He said the accused had never been arrested for alleged subversive activities.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott remanded the accused in custody and adjourned sentence to 29 April 2019.