Alleged victim of child sexual abuse shares impact with Wicklow court as trial continues

By Darragh McCann, The Wicklow People

On the second day of his trial at Wicklow Circuit Court, a man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced testimony from one of his alleged victims, detailing child sexual abuse she says occurred when she was aged no older than 10.

The court also heard from the alleged victim’s friends, who were told of the abuse years later, as proceedings continued in the case involving multiple historic allegations of sexual assault in Co Wicklow.

The accusations stem from separate complainants, with the alleged incidents taking place in Co Wicklow during the 1990s. The second day commenced on Friday, October 10.

Victim Two of the case testified that she was no older than 10 during the alleged sexual assault. She knew the defendant due to being a family member of his wife. She told the court she was at the defendant’s home and he asked her to help locate something for his child, who was 18-months-old at the time.

She testified that he told her the item was at the back of the bed. When she leaned over the bed, he allegedly got on top of her. She said she believes the defendant was allegedly grinding on her in a sexual manner.

She went on to tell the court the abuse continued and that it led to her “over-sexualising herself as a teenager”. She also informed the court that she had told two friends about it about eight years ago. Her testimony stated that while having drinks with two friends (Witness B and Witness C), she informed them she was assaulted when she was a young girl.

Counsel for the defence Barry White SC asked Victim B if it was true that she also babysat for the defendant. She confirmed it was true but clarified that it was in the presence of an older family member.

Witness A and B both testified to the court that on an unnamed date about eight years ago, Victim B had told them that she was sexually assaulted as a child. The court heard that they were having drinks at Witness B’s house when the victim told them some details about what had occurred. Witness A told the court that they moved the conversation away from the matter because they could see she was getting upset.

The last witness for the state was a member of An Garda Síochána’s Protective Services Unit. The garda talked through the details of the case and how the investigation came about, and the details of the interviews and conversations had with the defendant during the process of bringing the case to trial.

James Kelly, counsel for the prosecution, informed the court that the state’s case was finished, while Mr White said that the defence needs to put further questions to Victim A, who had testified on day one of the trial.

Judge Patrick Quinn told the court that on Tuesday, October 14, both sides will make their closing arguments, and a verdict can then be reached.