Six teens quizzed after rape claim by girl, 14

SIX teenage boys have been interviewed by gardaí following a claim by a 14-year-old girl that she was raped on open ground near Roxboro Road in Limerick.

The girl was initially treated for trauma at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital before being brought to the sexual assault unit in Cork where she underwent a forensic medical examination.

A Garda spokesman at Roxboro Road Station said yesterday: “This is being treated very seriously.”

The girl’s family contacted gardaí last Monday night after she told them she had been raped at around 8pm at an open area where she had gone with a group of boys, some of whom she knew.

Gardaí carried out door-to-door inquiries to ascertain the movements of named youths and subsequently they interviewed six youths by arrangement at Roxboro Road Station and in their homes.

CCTV systems in the area have also been downloaded.

A specialist Garda interviewer is expected to speak to the girl in the next few days when they are satisfied she is well enough to cope with recalling the events at the time of the alleged rape.

Swabs and other forensic evidence taken during the medical examination have been sent to the Garda forensic science lab in Dublin and the results will take at least a week to be completed.