Father faces 185 more rape charges
The 48-year old appeared before Athenry District Court yesterday where he was remanded in custody.
The charges are in addition to 10 rape charges, which involve a fourth daughter, and two counts of neglect and cruelty towards a son, which were put to him when he was arrested on Christmas Eve.
His wife, who faces 18 charges of cruelty and neglect of her children between May 2002 and June last year, was also remanded in custody yesterday.
Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the 45-year-old mother in custody at Mountjoy Women’s Prison to appear before Ennis District Court on January 22.
Her husband was remanded in custody to Castlerea Prison to appear before Harristown District Court this Friday, January 15.
The man has been charged with 140 counts of rape against one daughter from 1991 to 2008.
He has been charged with 24 counts of rape of another daughter from 1991 to 1996 and 21 charges of rape of a third daughter from 1991 to 1996.
The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been in custody since Christmas Eve.
The couple’s solicitor, Sheena McCarthy, said that a High Court application for bail on Monday was adjourned. The application will be heard on Friday.
An application yesterday for bail for the father was refused by Judge Mangan after hearing objections from Inspector Sean Colleran.
It took Garda Marie Hession 10 minutes to list the file numbers of the 185 charges that the man faces.
Garda Hession said that the accused only replied to the final charge when he said: “I didn’t do any of it.”
Judge Mangan had been told at a previous sitting that all of the couple’s children are now in care.
The charges against the woman allege that she assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or otherwise treated the children in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to their health or seriously affect their wellbeing.
The couple sat apart during yesterday’s court session.
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