Kerry man convicted of raping woman while she slept
A Kerry man has been convicted at the Central Criminal Court of raping a woman while she slept in her bed.
Daniel DJ Keane (aged 24) was found guilty by a jury after more than three hours deliberating and a three-day trial. He was remanded on continuing bail to face sentence in May.
Keane of Beach Grove, Listowel had pleaded not guilty to the rape of the woman at her Kerry home on February 9, 2009.
Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan thanked the jury for their time and excused them from further service for five years. He ordered Keane to stay away from the victim while awaiting sentence and to hand in his passport.
The trial heard Keane had claimed to gardaí that he had “a wet dream” while he was sleeping beside her in the bed but denied any sexual interaction.
Today the court heard forensic evidence that his DNA was found on her genital area.
Ms Sarah Flemming, a forensic scientist, told prosecuting counsel, Mr Anthony Sammon SC, that she examined swabs taken from the woman’s genital areas and discovered semen which contained DNA matching that of Keane to a likelihood of a billion to one.
She agreed with defence counsel, Mr Hugh Harnett SC, that it is possible for sperm to move around the female genitals over a period of time.
During cross examination of the victim, Mr Hartnett produced a picture taken from the woman’s Facebook page which he said showed her straddling a naked man in the months after she made the allegations. He asked her if it was the typical behaviour of a woman who claimed she had lost her confidence after a rape.
The woman replied that the man was not completely naked and that she was entitled to have a good time.
The victim told Mr Sammon that she had been out socialising and drinking that evening and ended up in a fast food restaurant with her friend who was to stay with her that night.
They met Keane and the three of them got a taxi back to her house. They sat up for a while watching television and that there was “very little conversation”.
She and her friend were to share her bed and she told Keane he could sleep elsewhere in the house.
She said she went to bed and fell asleep. She awoke later to find Keane coming into her room and lying at the end of the bed. She did not pay any attention to it and went back to sleep.
She awoke again later to find him on top of her having sex with her. She lay there for a few seconds in shock and then slid out from under him. As she was getting away from him he ejaculated on her thigh.
She told him to get out but he pretended to be asleep. She repeated herself and he went into the bathroom before leaving. As he was leaving, he told her: “Don’t tell anyone about that now.”
She responded: “The only people I will be telling will be the guards” before going upstairs and telling her friend what had happened.
When Keane was interviewed by gardaí he claimed the two women were still awake when he went up and that he lay down and talked to them for a while before falling asleep.
He claimed that he had a “wet dream” while asleep and that he ejaculated. He said he was later woken by the woman shouting at him. He said she called him “a freak”, accused him of having a sexual interaction with her and told him to get out.
He admitted he left his underwear at her home but that he had “no idea” why he would have removed them.
