Man goes on trial accused of sexual assaulting seven-year-old child in Wicklow
The Wicklow PeopleA man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has gone on trial at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in relation to multiple counts of historical sexual assault of a minor. The accusations stem from one complainant, who alleges the incidents occurred when she was seven years old. The alleged offences took place in County Wicklow during the late 1980s.
The victim in the case testified that the defendant lived with her family in the late ‘80s. She told the court that the defendant helped out with working on their farm.
Responding to the counsel for the prosecution, James Kelly SC, she talked the court through each allegation. She told the court that on the first occasion the defendant had allegedly gotten into her bed while she was asleep and was masturbating, before ejaculating on her back. She told the court that the following day he “had a shovel and told me he would bring me up to the field and bury me if I told anybody”.
The victim told the court that on the second occasion he repeated the same process as the first time, but while her younger sister slept in the bed beside her.
She described an incident on a couch where the defendant had her move up and down on his lap while he was allegedly masturbating.
She told the court the abuse occurred on six separate occasions. She added that one morning she woke up “and he was just gone”.
The court heard that she told a childhood friend many years later while out having social drinks. She also told her ex-partner to make him aware of why she didn’t like physical touch.
The court heard that the woman went to gardaí in 2018 and gave a statement.
Giollaiosa Ó Lideadha SC, counsel for the defence, questioned the victim about the statement she gave to gardaí and accused her of studying it before testifying. The victim stated that she “went over her statement,” adding, “I didn’t learn the statement word for word.”
Mr Ó Lideadha asked the victim to explain why his client, who was in his teens during the time period in question, would have been asked to babysit her and her younger siblings. He also asked whether she was sure about the age she had given to gardaí.
The first witness of the trial then took the stand, a female childhood friend of the victim.
The witness told the court that she grew up as a neighbour to the victim and that they had been best friends when they were younger, although they had not kept in touch in recent years.
She told the court that she recalled the defendant living with the family and also remembered him babysitting.
The court was informed that the witness had also given a statement to gardaí, in which she said that while she was out socialising with the victim in 2008, the defendant came up in conversation and the victim told her that he had sexually abused her when she was a child.
Mr Ó Lideadha put it to the witness that, when asked in a previous prosecution, she had stated she only remembered the defendant working on the farm and had not mentioned him babysitting.
The trial is set to continue on Thursday, October 30, when more witnesses for the prosecution and defence are expected to take the stand.