Trial of elderly man accused of rape and sex assault continue

The jury in the trial of an elderly man accused of rape and sexual assault have heard allegations from his family of harassment and aggressive behaviour towards them from one of the complainants.

The 75-year-old accused, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 19 charges of indecent assault on dates between January 1, 1969 and June 30, 1973 when a male complainant was aged between 13 and 17 years old.

He has also pleaded not guilty to 14 charges in relation to both rape and indecent assault of a female complainant and to 12 charges of rape and one of indecent assault in relation to a second girl on dates between January 1, 1970 and August 31, 1973.

The girls were aged between 13 and 16 years old at the time

The accused’s son told Mr Giollaíosa O’Lideadha SC, defending, that he found flyers on lampposts; two years after the accusations came to light, around the area where the incidents were alleged to have taken place.

He said they were photographs of his father with the word ‘paedophile’ written underneath it.

The accused’s other son told Mr O’Lideadha, that he had been studying at home in October 2004, two months after the allegations came to light, when the male complainant arrived at the house.

He said he had parked his car blocking the driveway to the house, called at the door and told him “get your father down now”.

The witness said his father was not there and he told the man as much but had to repeat it a number of times.

“He made allegations about my father. He was shouting at the top of my voice and was very aggressive. He said he was going to tell all my neighbours,” the witness said.

He told the jury he asked the man to remove his car and when he refused to so, he threatened to call the gardaí.

“His response was, ‘I know the police. They won’t do anything to me’,” the witness said. He tried to close the front door but the complainant blocked it with his foot.

He said he continued to ask the man to remove his foot but he refused to do so. “He said he would burst through me and the door,” the witness said.

He told Mr O’Lideadha he managed to close the door but the complainant remained at the house and was looking in the windows. He said he was frightened and he went around the house to ensure the doors and windows were closed.

The witness said his father arrived home a few minutes later and the complainant was still there.

He outlined a second incident, nine months later, in which he said the complainant and his brother arrived “uninvited” to his father’s apartment, when he and his brother were there with his father.

He described the complainant as being very angry and said his brother had tried to get him out of the apartment but failed.

He said the complainant then swung a punch at his brother and just missed his nose, before the man’s brother dragged him out of the apartment.

The accused’s wife told the jury that she was present when her husband received a call from the complainant’s sister in September 2004, a number of weeks after the allegations came to light.

She said she could hear everything both the accused and the woman said.

She told Mr O’Lideadha that she never heard her husband say to the woman “It was not like that, we were in love” or “he was not 14 years old, he was 15 years old”, as the complainant’s sister had earlier told the jury.

“No. Never,” the witness said.

She said she also “never” heard her husband say anything that would imply the abuse had been “consensual”.

“She was in a rant. You could not a get a word in edgeways. She finished off saying ‘My brothers are gunning for you’,” the woman told the jury.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of seven women and five men.