Longford man found guilty of sexual assault charges remanded in custody

A county Longford man has been found guilty of a number of sexual assault charges on a 10 year-old girl following a highly emotive trial at Longford Circuit Court.

The 31 year-old man, who cannot be named due to the nature of the offences, had pleaded not guilty to five sexual assault charges on a date unknown between July 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020 at his residence.

The defendant was accused of sexually assaulting the young girl by 'touching her breasts, vagina and backside'  and also a further four counts of sexual assault by digital penetration.

State prosecutor Shane Geraghty BL informed the jury that the complainant was aged between nine and 10 years of age at the time of the offences, while the defendant was aged between 26 years of age and 27.

Mr Geraghty said  the sexual assaults occurred close to the young girl's mother's workplace and  the defendant resided nearby with his partner and parents.

Judge Kenneth Connolly heard the girl and her younger brother, who was aged between seven and eight years old at the time of the sexual assaults, would sometimes stay with their grandparents or a babysitter but they would often accompany their mother to work.

Mr Geraghty said the defendant was often left to look after the kids.

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The offending came to light when the complainant confided in her best friend about the alleged sexual assaults when the defendant drove past in his car and she informed her mother who subsequently told the complainant's mother.

The then-11 year-old girl was interviewed by specialist gardaí on August 16, 2021 as Garda Ursula Kilcoyne and Garda Georgina Gallagher spoke to her about the allegations and this footage was played for the jury in court on video.

Garda Kilcoyne asked the young child to describe what they were doing and where they were when the alleged sexual assaults took place.

She replied that she and her younger brother would often be in a room with the defendant and his partner and when they looked after them his partner was maybe there '50% of the time'.

"We would be on our phones and tablets and sometimes we brought board games and we would play them with [them].

"She would just talk to us and play board games with us.

"When [his partner] was there he was normal, he wasn't doing anything."

However, the young complainant stated that the man acted in a completely different manner when he was alone with her and her seven year-old brother.

"When [his partner] was not there he would pick me up and he'd slide his hands down my trousers under my clothes."

Asked by Garda Kilcoyne how often he would do that the complainant replied, "Whenever she wasn't there."

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The young complainant alleged in her evidence during the specialist interview the defendant would touch her intimately and she estimated she was sexually assaulted "about 10 times or more" for between five and 20 minutes.

"It would be kind of sore and if I said it was sore he would start doing it more and he would go faster."

The young girl said the defendant also sometimes warned her if she complained to be "quiet or he'd do more" and she recalled he once sexually assaulted her while she was resting in the room on a chair and under a blanket.

"He just out of nowhere put his hand under the blanket and slid them down my underwear."

The young complainant said it had started about a week after her mother started working. "I was shocked and scared. I just didn't know what to do."

Garda Peter Doherty said he was the station orderly on July 3, 2021 when the mother of the complainant who was accompanied by her father attended Longford Garda Station where she made an allegation in relation to an 'alleged sexual wrongdoing'.

Garda Inspector David Bunn of the Divisional Protective Services Unit in the Roscommon / Longford Garda division said he was tasked with investigating the allegation and on November 22, 2021 he obtained a search warrant and travelled to the property looking for 'evidence in relation to a sexual assault'.

Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) Ciaran Prior also attended and he took photographs of the scene.

Insp Bunn said nothing of any evidential value was found during the search and he outlined the defendant was arrested three times on suspicion of sexual assault and he was interviewed for the first time on November 23, 2021 and a further two times after that.

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A transcript of the defendant's Garda interviews was handed to the jury along with a diary belonging to the complainant's mother marking the days she was working.

The defendant, who was asked by Gardaí during his interview if he knew the complainant or what she looked like and he replied he knew the name but he did not know her well and he did not know what she looked like.

He added: "I definitely never touched her, I'm making that clear."

However, the defence handed in five photographs during the trial that showed the defendant and his partner pictured with the young girl and her brother who they brought to see Santa in December 2019 as exhibits to the jury and stated it was obvious he knew the children.

The defendant also denied babysitting and he said he was never there on his own with the children.

"Talk to my [partner], talk to my parents. [My partner] was there, my parents were there and their mother was coming in and out as well."

The accused, who was asked by Gardaí how the allegation made him feel and if the complainant was lying, responded: "It's an allegation. People make up b*******e every day of the week."

Gardaí asked the defendant if he threatened the girl 'to be quiet or he'd do more' when she complained and he responded, "No way, f**k sake, no way, I did not."

Dara Foynes SC, for the defendant, cross-examined the now 16 year-old complainant, who gave her evidence via video link, last week.

The legal representative put it to her that people 'could go in and make a cup of tea' in the room if they wanted to and she stated people were regularly coming and going and nobody had witnessed any sexual assaults. "It was almost a home from home."

However, the complainant said it was only a small number of people who ventured in  and she disagreed.

Ms Foynes said the victim's mother was working nearby and she put it to the complainant her version of the events was not the truth. "I'm going to say it didn't happen."

The tearful complainant responded and stated her mother was relatively close to her in terms of the vicinity of the area, "but she wasn't in and out every few seconds" as was being suggested.

Closing speeches 

The jury were told they "can't bring emotion into it" during the closing speech by  defence Senior Counsel Dara Foynes.

"Demeanour is all well and good, but one ounce of extrinsic evidence - or independent evidence - is worth pounds of demeanour," she said. "The prosecution provided no science-based evidence."

However, Mr Geraghty insisted that based on the defendant's second Garda interview he "is a liar".

He held up photos of the accused with the injured party and told the jury that the man had said in an interview that he could not describe what the alleged victim looked like.

"He brought (the victim and her brother) to see Santy and photographs were sent back to their mother.

"And yet, when the Gardaí asked 'can you describe what she looks like?', he said 'barely - I don't know her'.

"Photos don't lie. That arises out of guilt. He was caught red handed in his own tissue of lies."

"He didn't recall having any interaction with [her mother either] and said 'I don't know that woman'."

The jury spent over three hours and 45 minutes deliberating and when they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict Judge Kenneth Connolly instructed them that they could return a majority verdict, which they duly did 11-1 on all five counts.

There was an audible gasp in the courtroom as the verdict was delivered.

Judge Connolly sincerely thanked the jury for doing a wonderful job and he excused them from any further jury service for six years.

Mr Geraghty asked for a victim impact statement to be compiled and despite an application for bail Judge Connolly remanded the defendant in custody until February 3, 2026 for sentencing.

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