Courts / Ireland / Report

Wheelchair user alleges she was raped by mother's partner as a child

Summary

A wheelchair user, aged about ten or eleven when the abuse began, alleges that her mother's partner, a 44‑year‑old man whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, sexually abused her in the family home from March 2004 to August 2013. She says the abuse started with touching her breasts and private parts after her First Holy Communion, progressed to attempted vaginal rape, and then to regular anal rape. She claims the attacks occurred weekly or daily, depending on her mother's absence, and that she tried to record the incidents with a dictaphone, which failed to capture any audio. She has given multiple statements to Gardaí, describing flashbacks and trauma that delayed her reporting. The case is being heard before Mr Justice Peter McCarthy and a jury at the Central Criminal Court, where the accused has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of rape and 31 counts of sexual assault.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Wheelchair user alleges she was raped by mother's partner as a child. Charges or matters: to 29 counts of rape and 31 counts of sexual assault in the family home on dates between March 2004 and August 2013. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• March 2004 Incident
• August 2013 Incident
• October 2014 Incident
• 2018-04-27 Publication

Why: She described how she had tried to use a dictaphone to "catch him to prove it to my mum what was going on, because I thought if I didn't have proof I wouldn't be believed by my mum or anybody. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Sexual Offences Stage Trial Violent Crime

Read the original CNI report