Garda accused of sex assault

A serving garda has been the subject of two independent complaints of sexual assault and rape, the Irish Examiner has learned.

GSOC is investigating claims by Anna Ilnicka that the garda raped her on an ongoing basis over a five-year period.

It has now emerged that the same garda was investigated following complaints of assault by a second woman. A file was prepared for the DPP, who ultimately decided not to prosecute. The two women are not known to each other.

Ms Ilnicka first came to public attention when her claims of sexual assault by a civilian and malpractice by both the gardaí and health services were revealed by the Irish Examiner in January.

Those claims are now the subject of investigations by An Garda Síochána, GSOC, and the HSE.

At the time of that incident, Ms Ilnicka, from Poland, had been in Ireland less than a year and was in what has been called a “a vulnerable state” as a result of the breakdown of her marriage.

Separate to that, she has also made a complaint to GSOC about a member of the force who approached her in late 2006, when she was in a traumatised state after the other assault. She claims he raped her on an ongoing basis over five years.

Ms Ilnicka only complained about the officer when the earlier incident was brought into the public domain. However, after making a statement on the matter to GSOC, she became aware that the officer in question had been the subject of another complaint of sexual assault from another woman in the previous two years.

GSOC declined to comment on the case.