Jury in abuse case hears of parents’ sex tape discovery

The jury in the trial of a couple accused of sexually abusing their son has heard a sex tape was found in the house featuring the two accused and another woman.

The Central Criminal Court also heard evidence of a garda interview with the father in which he blamed the HSE for “brainwashing” his son into making the allegations.

The parents face a total of 82 charges of abuse between 2007 and 2011 in Waterford.

A investigating garda told Pauline Walley, prosecuting, that several video tapes and DVDs were found in the family home 15 months after the child was taken into care.

One DVD began with a outside shot of the house and featured the child when he was about two years old. The next part showed both parents and a female engaging in sexual activity in the living room for about a hour.

Both parents denied the allegations during interview and the father told gardaí the allegations had come from “the Health Board”.

“He has been brainwashed, whatever he said, he’s being told to say, it’s being put into his head,” he told gardaí.

He told gardaí during interview that it was he who contacted gardaí after their son asked his mother: “Would you mind if I had a man’s penis up my bum?” He said the child said it to his mother during an access visit and when she asked him where he “was getting all this from”, he mentioned a named boy in his school.

The trial continues.