‘Trusting’ woman was shaking like a leaf after alleged rape, mother tells court

An alleged rape victim who has Down syndrome came home “white as a sheet” and “retching”, her mother has told a jury.

The woman, who is in her 20s, became separated from her mother while they were out walking. The accused man found her and took her back to his home where the alleged rape took place.

The accused admits there was some sexual contact with the woman but maintains that it was consensual and that he did not know she was mentally impaired. He has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, sexual assault, and having sex with a mentally impaired person at his Dublin home on June 12, 2013.

When asked about specific characteristics of people with Down syndrome, the woman’s mother said they were “very, very trusting”.

“They see the best in people, they like to please, they’re very gentle and non-assertive,” she told Caroline Biggs, prosecuting.

She said it was difficult to put a mental age on her daughter but in some areas it could be seven and others 11.

The mother said that on the day of the incident she and her daughter were out. She said her daughter was a small distance behind her but she knew her way home.

The mother arrived home and became concerned when her daughter didn’t arrive within a few minutes. She and her husband drove around looking for her.

The witness said they arrived home and she was about to call gardaí when she heard her daughter banging on the door shouting “mum, mum, help, help, let me in”.

She said her daughter was “shaking like a leaf” and could not talk. Gardaí arrived and she told them a man had put his penis in her vagina. The witness said she was retching when she described him putting his tongue in her mouth.

Earlier in the day, Padraig Dwyer, defending, briefly cross-examined the alleged victim via video-link after her direct evidence which had been given to the jury by a pre-recorded DVD.

The woman held a pink teddy as she answered Mr Dwyer’s questions from a separate room in the court building. She agreed that she was a very friendly person and would smile at people all the time and say hello.

She said the man came up to her on the street and asked if she was OK and to come with him. She said she spoke to him again when she left the house and agreed that he asked her for her number.

The trial continues.