Father found guilty of raping son

A jury has convicted a Waterford father of raping his son from the age of six — but acquitted the child’s mother of having sex with the boy.

Jurors took just over seven hours to return the guilty verdicts on the 64-year-old, who cannot be named to protect his son’s identity. They also convicted him of one count of child cruelty relating to an incident when he locked his son in a box for six hours.

The jury acquitted him of charges that he raped the child with a hot poker. The boy’s mother was found not guilty of having sex or simulating sex with the boy at the behest of the father.