Boy says earlier denial was an attempt to avoid abuse trial

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

On 13 April 2016, a 12-year-old boy told the Central Criminal Court that the abuse he had previously denied had occurred. He said he had denied it to avoid attending court. The proceedings were reported on 13 April 2016.

The parents faced 82 charges relating to alleged abuse between 2007 and 2011. Each parent pleaded not guilty to sexual exploitation on 16 counts and child cruelty on one charge. The mother also denied sexual assault on 16 counts. The father denied 16 anal rape counts, alongside 16 counts alleging sexual assault with a poker.

Giving evidence on 12 April 2016, the boy accused his father of rape and sexual abuse involving a hot poker. He also alleged that his father made him have sex with his mother at their home in Co Waterford. The report described a further allegation that the father held a gun to the child’s head.

The boy said he had expressed fears to his social worker that his father would discover his location. The social worker reassured him, after which he said the abuse had not happened. He explained to the court that this denial was intended to spare him involvement in the case.

The child testified remotely by video-link from residential care in the UK. Proceedings remained under way, with Mr Justice Robert Eagar presiding alongside a jury.