Jury in trial of family members accused of sexual abuse hears woman's uncle raped her when she was seven

Isabel Hayes

The complainant in the trial of seven family members who are accused of sexually abusing her has told the court that one of her uncles – the third in the case – raped her when she was seven.

The woman, who is deaf, gave evidence on Tuesday at the Central Criminal Court trial in relation to one of her uncles, referred to as Accused G. She has already given evidence in relation to two other uncles she alleges sexually abused her.

Accused G (45) has denied a single count of raping her on a date between 1996 and 1997.

Seven men, aged between 32 and 55, are on trial accused of a total of 98 counts of sexually abusing the complainant at various stages over a 17-year period between 1996 and 2013. They are her three uncles and four brothers.

One of the woman's brothers is also accused of four counts of sexually abusing another sister and of anally raping a third sister. The men deny all the charges against them. None of the parties involved can be named for legal reasons.

The woman is giving her evidence via videolink and through two interpreters – an Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter and a deaf relay – as well as an intermediary who is a linguistics expert. There are also two interpreters monitoring teams present in court to ensure the woman is being interpreted correctly.

On Tuesday, Ms Justice Caroline Biggs told the jury that one of the monitoring teams had contacted the court to raise a number of clarifications arising from the complainant's evidence on Monday.

The woman was completing her prosecution examination in relation to allegations of sexual abuse against another uncle, Accused B (48). This man is accused of eight counts involving rape, oral rape and anal rape on dates between December 2008 and December 2010.

The jury was told that the monitoring team's clarifications to the court included an observation that when the complainant was asked by prosecuting counsel: “Was there anyone else in the house” during one of the alleged incidents, this was in fact interpreted to the complainant as: “Did anyone else see what happened?”

Ms Justice Biggs told the jury that when they get the transcript of the evidence, she will bring them through these issues.

In relation to the allegation against Accused G, the complainant told Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, that the man - her uncle - put his penis in her vagina.

“I was seven and I was like, what are you doing, what age are you?” the woman said.

When asked where her parents were at the time, she said they had gone shopping. When asked what she was doing before it happened, the woman's intermediary said she might have difficulty with the word 'before”.

The court has heard the complainant has challenges communicating timelines in terms of calendars and sequence.

Ms Small instead asked if it happened in the morning, afternoon or night, and the woman said it was the afternoon.

She was then asked what she was doing that day and the intermediary asked permission to use the word “remember” when interpreting, to which the judge agreed. The complainant said she was “just playing”.

She said it was very painful and when asked if he ejaculated and was there sperm she replied: “Yes.”

The trial, which is set down for four months, continues before an extended panel of 15 jurors.

Accused A – the woman's 55-year-old uncle - is accused of a single count of raping her on a date between December 2009 and April 2011.

Four of her younger brothers are also accused of sexually abusing her over varying periods of time.

Accused C (34) is accused of 45 counts – 22 of rape and 23 counts of anally raping her over a 12 year period between 2001 and 2013.

Accused C is further charged with the sexual abuse of two of his younger sisters. He is charged with one count of sexual assault in relation to one sister, Complainant 2, on a date between 2005 and 2006 when she was a child. He is also charged with two counts of rape and one of anal rape of this woman on dates between 2016 and 2019.

He is also charged with one count of anally raping a third sister, Complainant 3, on dates between 2013 and 2014.

Accused D (33) is accused of 22 counts of sexually abusing his sister over an 11-year period on dates between 2002 and 2013. He has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges of rape and three counts of anal rape.

Accused E (32), is accused of 16 counts of sexual abuse against his sister over an eight-year period between 2003 and 2011. He has denied nine counts of anal rape and seven counts of raping her.

The fourth brother, Accused F (also 32), has denied five counts – three counts of anal rape and two counts of raping his sister on dates between 2007 and 2010.tyg