Mother of alleged rape victim accused of 'implanting' daughter's memory

The mother of a 21-year-old, who was allegedly raped, sexually assaulted and physically assaulted by her father over a 10-year period, was accused of “implanting her daughter’s memory”, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Mr John Peart SC, defending, claimed on day three of the trial, that the mother of the complainant, helped make up the allegations in order to regain custody of her children to help her get out of debt.

Denying the claims, the girl’s mother said her daughter told her of the 10 years of abuse in February 2006, on the day she was suspended from school for ‘mitching’.

“I was upset and worried about my daughter’s behaviour,” the mother said. “She was suspended for mitching and for forging a note from me and this was the last straw. So I checked her phone and saw arrangements on it being made to mitch off school. It was then she had told me about the abuse by her father.”

Mr Peart told her: “I don’t believe you. You discussed it with her (the daughter) and you had a motive for pursuing the allegations of sexual abuse against him. You were seriously in debt and couldn’t pay the maintenance to the father, who had custody of your children. If you got the children back, you would get lone parents’ allowance and child maintenance.”

Denying the claims, the mother said she was not in debt at the time. But the court heard the daughter had told social workers in October 2005 that her mother was “seriously in debt and received final notices from the bank and credit union.”

The mother agreed with Mr Peart that she had not noticed the child crying when she came back into the house on the day her daughter claimed her father raped her anally for the first time when she was eight while her mother was outside.

She also agreed that when she had bathed the child she did not notice anything wrong with her.

The father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to 41 counts of anal rape, 41 counts of oral rape and 24 counts of sexual assault at various addresses on dates between July 1996 and March 2006.

He further pleaded not guilty to four counts of assaulting the girl causing her harm by striking her with a knife, striking her with a hatchet, by burning a cigarette into her back, and kicking her on dates between August 2003 and April 2004.

He also denied two counts of intentionally or recklessly causing the girl serious harm by smashing an ashtray and forcing her to kneel on broken glass and by scalding her with water from a kettle on dates between August 2003 and April 2004.

He further denied two counts of making threats to kill or cause serious harm to the girl on dates between November 2006 and September 2007.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of 11 men.