Dublin woman acquitted of sexual assault and rape

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

A Dublin woman was acquitted of sexual assault and rape at the Central Criminal Court, with the jury returning its verdicts on 11 April 2025. The alleged offences were said to have occurred at addresses in Dublin.

The jury found the 20-year-old not guilty on all 12 counts after more than nine hours of deliberation. She had denied 11 counts of sexual assault and one count of section 4 rape involving her younger cousin.

The prosecution alleged the offences occurred during family sleepovers when the girls were children. The complainant and her parents said the sleepovers took place; the accused and several relatives gave evidence for the defence that they did not.

The accused testified that the allegations were untrue. Her grandmother and other family members also disputed that the cousins had slept over together, while an aunt described one overnight stay at her home with another child present.

Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo told the woman she was free to go. He thanked the jurors and excused them from jury service for 10 years.