Longford Circuit Court trial of defendants accused of defilement of their sister

The trial of two young men accused of the sexual abuse of their sister will continue this week at Longford Circuit Court.

The defendants, who cannot be named, are before Judge Kenneth Connolly accused of the defilement of a child under the age of 15 contrary to Section 2 of the Criminal law sexual offence on days unknown between September 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015 at a named location in which they engaged in sexual intercourse.

In opening the case the barrister for the prosecution, Fionnuala O'Sullivan SC, outlined that the charges against the accused, two young men in their early 20s, were made by their younger sister and that in the background were “a number of difficulties within the family”.

The matter came to light after the sister was taken into care. While in the care setting the abuse that brought the parties before the court was alleged.

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In his early address to the jury, counsel for one of the defendants, Michael O'Higgins SC, said there were certain admissions by the defendants and that they “accept that everything Gardaí should have done was done” and that “everything was in order”.

“The defence is not challenging that the sex abuse took place,” Mr O'Higgins said, but added that there was “significant familial sex abuse within the immediate and wider family” which was key to the defence.

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Counsel for the second defendant, Dara Foynes SC, described it as “a most difficult and unusual case”.

Detective Garda Paul Kearney gave details of the location of the family home and the proximity of the home of an uncle who was convicted of abuse of all the parties involved in the case.

Det Kearney said there was an “ongoing investigation into allegations of abuse made by the injured parties and the two defendants”.

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Garda Colette Conlon of Longford Garda Station, a specialist victim interviewer, said she specialises in interviewing children and those with intellectual difficulties. She provided context to the two recorded interviews that were played to the jury.

The initial questions in those interviews were to put the injured party at ease, they drew a picture of a happy family life in her foster home.

The child herself has a clear love of animals, and any description of the people in her life remarks on this shared character trait.

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She's been in her foster home for one year, “It's good,” she told the Garda, but when asked why, she giggles, adding, “I don't know.”

This little girl laughs a good bit in the early part of the interview, it's incongruous, a nervous reaction to a stressful situation. Stressful, despite the compassion and skill of the interviewer.

As the interview progresses the horror of the 14 year old child's life is laid bare. It's a little girl in a big chair, she's dressed in a tracksuit for the first interview and jeans and a sparkly top in the second.

There's a vagueness about when the abuse took place, but it's estimated around four years before the interview.

When asked why she was living in foster care she says “because someone had an affair with me”.

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She outlined the abuse in two separate interviews. Her abusers were just children themselves, the older brother 14, the younger 12 at the time the sexual assaults took place.

During the interview the child spoke of being “scared, anxious and uncomfortable”.

After the sex assaults she said, “I wasn't happy”. The accounts of the abuse are graphic.

As the interview is brought to a conclusion the conversation returns to normal topics; school, her pets and plans for the weekend.

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This was the first two days of the hearing.

The matter continues this week.