Jury retires for evening in Munster child abuse trial

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

A jury retired for the evening on 29 July 2021 after almost two and a half hours of deliberations in a Munster child abuse trial at the Central Criminal Court. Justice Paul McDermott had sent the jury out before lunchtime during the ninth week of the trial, which was sitting in a temporary courtroom at Croke Park.

The judge told jurors there was no restriction on time and that their verdicts must be based on the evidence and be unanimous. He sent them home just after 4pm, with deliberations due to continue the following morning.

Five family members, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were accused of abusing three children between 2014 and 2016. They were the children’s parents, aunt and uncles, and ranged in age from 27 to 56. The parents were also accused of neglecting five of their children. All five denied the charges. Reporting restrictions protected the welfare and identities of the children.

The 56-year-old father pleaded not guilty to 34 counts including rape, anal rape, oral rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and wilfully neglecting a child. Three additional counts against him were withdrawn during the trial. The 34-year-old mother pleaded not guilty to 25 counts including sexual assault, sexual exploitation and wilfully neglecting a child. Both parents also pleaded not guilty to wilfully neglecting another two of their children.

The children’s 35-year-old aunt pleaded not guilty to three counts, including sexually assaulting the girl and one of the boys. Her 49-year-old husband pleaded not guilty to 10 counts including rape, anal rape, oral rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation. Two additional counts against him were withdrawn during the trial.

The children’s 27-year-old uncle pleaded not guilty to 10 counts including rape, oral rape, anal rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation. A count of alleged sexual exploitation of the eldest boy by him was withdrawn by order of the judge. The alleged offences were said to have occurred at locations in Munster on unknown dates between 18 August 2014 and 28 April 2016.

The case against two other women, the 27-year-old uncle’s 32-year-old partner and the children’s 57-year-old grandmother, was withdrawn earlier in the trial by direction of the judge. The proceedings were reported on 29 July 2021.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.