Offaly farmer denies raping girl, 16, in field
An Offaly farmer charged with raping a teenage girl denied the allegation when interviewed by gardaí.
"Straight up, I did not rape that girl," he said. "I did not have sexual intercourse with her in the field."
The 56-year-old man is pleading not guilty to raping and sexually assaulting the then 16-year-old girl on April 8, 2004.
Garda arrested him at his home on April 9, 2004 and asked him whether the clothes he was wearing were the same as those he wore the previous day. He said they were and gave them to the gardaí.
He told gardaí when interviewed that he thought: "Who I was, what I am and the consequences of what might happen" when the schoolgirl was with him in his jeep
The trial continues at the Central Criminal Court before Mr Justice Peter Charleton and a jury of four women and eight men.
