Young woman tells court that fear stopped her cutting off contact with abusive uncle

A young woman accusing her uncle of sexually abusing her as a child has told a Central Criminal Court jury that fear stopped her cutting off contact with him.

The Dublin man, who can not be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of sexual assault, six counts of rape, one count of oral rape and three counts of anal rape against the girl at various addresses on dates between September 1998 and December 2005.

The alleged victim was aged between six and 14 years old at the time.

The now 18-year-old complainant told Mr Paul McDermott SC, defending, during cross examination, that she was fond of her uncle when she was younger.

Mr McDermott put it to her that she now had “no good feelings” for her uncle and she agreed, saying she could “murder” him. She denied that this went back to her uncle being blamed for a family tragedy.

Mr McDermott told her that the accused denied the sexual allegations against him and she replied “Of course he is going to deny it.”

She later told Ms Mary Rose Gearty SC, prosecuting, during re-examination, that fear had been stopping her cutting off contact.

She agreed with Mr McDermott that the accused man had a job and when asked when she would see her uncle, she said the accused sometimes stayed in her home and also at her grandfather’s and aunt’s houses. She said she would have contact with him in the evenings.

The woman agreed that when the accused visited her house there would be an adult present and that when she babysat for him his girlfriend or later his wife would be present. She agreed the accused would have given her money for babysitting. She said his wife would bring her shopping.

She agreed that the accused man would sometimes take her when there were problems in her family home.

She said she would have spent “the best part of the summer” in the accused man and his wife’s home, returning occasionally to her home. She said she was excited to go to their house the first time. Asked if her time there was happy, she said “Best part, when he was not around.”

The woman said she would hang around the house with the accused man’s wife during the day helping her and then change, have a shower and get ready to go out. She said there were loads of other children around.

She agreed the accused man got annoyed at her for the company she was keeping and that there was a complaint from one neighbour. She disagreed with Mr McDermott that the accused man had sent her home and she was told she could come back if she behaved. She later said she could not remember if she was sent home for a time.

The woman agreed with Mr McDermott that she had a problem with being called to come inside in the evenings and said she stayed out “loads of times” and got drunk. She said she was probably about 11 years old around this time and would drink vodka.

She disagreed with Mr McDermott that she could do pretty much what she wanted there and told him when the accused came home she had to come in and “clean up the mess.” She agreed this was a “pain in the neck” and she resented it.

Mr McDermott put it to her that she got away with more there then she would have at home and she replied “not really.” She disagreed that drink was easier to get there then at home.

She agreed with Mr McDermott that she had described playing card games at the accused man and his wife’s house but was not sure which game. She said herself, the accused, his wife and his wife’s sister played the game on the floor. She said the wife’s sister was present two or three times.

Mr McDermott put it to her that she had told gardai the wife’s sister was present nine or ten times and she replied she could not remember what she said in her statement. She agreed she was happy with that answer when the gardai read it over to her.

He told her that the accused said none of these events happened and that explained the discrepancy in numbers.

Mr McDermott asked her if there were adults around when she visited the house her uncle later moved to and she replied “not always.” She said: “If he was able to do it in my house with adults present, he was able to do it anywhere.”

She said it would have looked suspicious if she would not go around to her uncle’s house.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of five men and seven women.