Munster rape trial hears from girl's interview with specialist gardaí when she was nine

Her parents, grandmother and several aunts and uncles are accused of sexually abusing her and two of her brothers

The Central Criminal Court heard that both parents are also accused of wilfully neglecting another two of their children.

A trial of three men and four women accused of sexually abusing three children has heard a girl describe how her parents and relatives allegedly sexually abused her.

The seven accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, include the parents, grandmother and several aunts and uncles of the three main child complainants. The accused range in ages from their 20s to their 50s and live in various locations in Munster.

The Central Criminal Court heard that both parents are also accused of wilfully neglecting another two of their children.

The father of the three main child complainants has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts including rape, anal rape, oral rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and wilfully neglecting a child at locations in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.

The mother of the three main child complainants has pleaded not guilty to 25 counts including sexual assault, sexual exploitation and wilfully neglecting a child at locations in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.

The mother and father have also pleaded not guilty to wilfully neglecting two other boys at a location in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.

Giving evidence via her specialist garda interviews which were recorded in August 2017 and were played before the court, the female child complainant read aloud things that she said she had written down on pieces of paper.

The court heard these interviews took place after the girl had been taken into care in April 2016 and was living with her foster parents.

The nine-year-old girl's interview

The girl, who was aged nine at the time of the interview, read aloud that her father, her mother, one of the accused men in his 40s, an accused woman in her 30s and her grandmother all touched her “private”.

She said they touched her private with their fingers and that her clothes were off when it happened, except for when her grandmother touched her private from the “outside”.

When asked what she used her private for, the girl said she used it for “weeing”. She said her father, mother, grandmother and the accused man had all touched her private more than once.

The girl said that her father, the accused man and another accused man in his 20s put their privates in her private.

She said that her father did this in the sitting room of her house and it felt “weird”. She said his clothes were off and her pants were gone. She said this happened two times.

The girl said the accused man in his 40s put his private in her private more than once, that it happened three times. She said she did not know what his private looked like, only that it was “big”.

She said the other accused man in his 20s put his private in hers in the kitchen of his house. She said the accused woman in her 30s was sitting on a chair in the room while this happened.

The girl said that in her old house “there was sex going on”. She said on different mornings her brothers, who are both complainants in the case, came into her room and asked did she want to do sex and she said okay.

She said she heard the word sex from one of her brothers. She said sex was when her brother's private went into her private.

The girl said this happened once with one of her brothers and two times with the other brother.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury.

A woman in her 30s, who is the sister of the children's mother, has pleaded not guilty to three counts, including sexually assaulting the girl and sexually assaulting one of the boys at locations in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.

A man, who is the partner of the woman in her 30s, has pleaded not guilty 12 counts including rape, anal rape, oral rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation at locations in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.

A man in his 20s, who is the brother of the children's mother, has pleaded not guilty 10 counts including rape, oral rape, anal rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation at locations in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.

A woman, who is the partner of the man in his 20s, has pleaded not guilty to four counts, including sexual assault and sexual exploitation at locations in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.

Finally, the maternal grandmother of the three child complainants has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting the girl by touching her genitals at locations in Munster on unknown dates between August 18, 2014, and April 28, 2016.