Trial of two young men accused of sexually abusing their sister continues at Longford Circuit Court

The trial of two young men accused of the sexual abuse of their sister continues this week in 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 with the child.

Last week, testimony from the principal of the national school all three children attended focused on psychological assessment of the brothers. The assessments were compiled because learning support teachers were concerned about their academic progress.

Counsel for the older brother, Michael O'Higgins SC, pointed out that where IQ tests were not the “be-all and end-all” they were objective tests. The two defendants ranked around 0.1% compared to their peers.

One assessment described the older brother as “a cheerful, chatty boy”, while the other appraisal delineated the younger brother as “very pleasant, of a happy disposition”.

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On Wednesday a witness statement from the victim's foster sister, who was 24 when the matter came to light, was read into the court record. This statement was about how the matters before the court were broached by the victim. The little girl in the foster home having been taken into care following sexual abuse by her uncle.

She said to her foster sister she wanted to talk about something. Her foster sister described her as “like a little sister to me”, and based on this relationship the victim opened up about the alleged abuse.

As the victim had difficulty saying who the abuser was the foster sister asked if she wanted to write it down. She went to her room, then returned with a torn copy book page with her eldest brother's name written in orange crayon.

In the witness box the victim's foster mother said the young girl “now feels safe, which is progress”.

The mother of the three children was next to give testimony. She described her relationship with her husband as “controlling”.

Although she observed incidents between the boys and her daughter that “weren't right” she said she did not understand the risk because she was “stressed out”.

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When asked if she had been told by Gardaí and social workers not to let her children near their uncle she replied: “I don't remember.”

On Thursday, Sgt Paul Carney told the court Gardaí had “strong suspicions” the father of the victim was aware his brother was raping his daughter. He spoke of the immense difficulty of determining timelines in such cases.

“The lines of right and wrong can be blurred for victims,” he explained. Sgt Carney said the age of the victim, the way memory is formed and guilt for participating all cloud the investigation.

His testimony first centred on the prosecution of the victim's uncle, his relationship with the two defendants, before moving to the matter before the court.

Detective Garda Damien McGovern interviewed the older brother. It started out with general exchanges. Chats on a normal life, a visit to the Marquee in Drumlish to see Robert Mizzell with his father and brother. His enjoyment of jiving.

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As the interview progressed the exchanges became uncomfortable, some of the questions probing the alleged offending get the reply: “I don't want to talk about that,” a right highlighted to the accused before the interview started.

When the defendant was levelled with the allegations against him he replied: “No, didn't happen at all.”

In his first interview the younger brother said the allegations were lies, but in September 2020 he contacted Gardai and said he wanted to tell the truth.

That interview saw him admit something happened between him and his sister. He maintained his uncle had told him to do it and said it was normal. In a confused and tangled timeline he stated it happened four times and ranged from kissing and touching, to full sex.

He also alleged his father knew about it. He claimed his uncle had threatened to “beat and whip” him if he did not do it.

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Dt Gda McGovern agreed with Mr O'Higgins cross examination clarification that the defendant's confusion in interview was because he was “making an effort to give answers”.

The trial continues this week.