Man (20) denies rape and sexual assault of girl in Co Kilkenny
Eoghan Dalton
A 20-year-old man has denied raping and sexually assaulting a young girl multiple times in Co Kilkenny.The girl was nine-years-old when she was allegedly sexually abused in the summer of 2018.Addressing the jury, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said the “allegations of rape and sexual assault” are said to have occurred at two locations in Co Kilkenny.
The man has pleaded not guilty to the ten charges of rape and sexual assault.
Opening the case at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Waterford, prosecuting senior counsel Roisin Lacey said the accused and the girl were visiting an older person in the community who knew both their families “for the purposes of saying the rosary” and to have their dinner.
“She says she was subjected to various and and repeated offences of a sexual nature, in particular anal rape,” Ms Lacey said.
The girl also claims that the accused had rubbed himself against her.
The allegations came to light after the girl told her mother in November 2018. The girl’s mother then contacted Tusla the Child and Family Agency and social workers became involved.
A Garda investigation was launched and the girl’s mother gave Gardaí permission for her daughter to be spoken to by specialist Garda interviewers. This interview will be shown to the jury, Ms Lacey said.
She added that the girl described going into the bathroom to clean herself and finding “wet, sticky and white stuff on her”.
Six counts of rape are alleged to have taken place outside a household in a rural area.The accused also denied two other charges of sexually assaulting the girl in the sitting room of a house and at another residence.Two further charges relate to an allegation that he invited the girl, who was under the age of 15 at the time, to touch his penis with her hand in the bedroom of a home.
The offences took place across a range of dates unknown in June, July and August in 2018.
Neither party can be named for legal reasons.
A jury of seven men and seven women were advised by Ms Justice Creedon to be available for two weeks for the duration of the trial.
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