Claims made ‘where my father couldn’t find me’

A boy who was allegedly sexually abused with a hot poker by his father only disclosed the allegations when he was in foster care, where his father could not find him, a trial has heard.

His father and mother have pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to a total of 82 charges of abuse between 2007 and 2011 in Waterford.

The boy, now aged 12, said he was taken into care by a foster family when he was eight. When he went to a second foster family, he started making allegations of sexual abuse against his father.