Laois man convicted of rape after 2014 defamation threat

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

A Laois man was convicted at the Central Criminal Court of raping his 15-year-old sister-in-law at his home between October 1983 and July 1984. He was convicted following a trial in May. The proceedings were reported on 17 July 2018.

He had pleaded not guilty to rape and to two further counts of sexual assault against the same woman. He was acquitted of the two sexual assault charges.

The court heard that the woman disclosed the rape to a member of the man’s extended family at a charity function in 2014. After that disclosure, she received a solicitor’s letter from the man threatening legal action for defamation. She made a garda statement that day, and he was arrested later that year. He co-operated during interview but denied the allegations and denied showing her pornographic material.

At the sentence hearing before Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy, the woman described taking back some control and self-worth. Defence counsel Kerida Naidoo SC said he could not offer a change in his client’s attitude as mitigation. Sentencing was to take place at a later date.