Man convicted of sexually abusing son of childhood friend
A man has been convicted by a jury of sexually abusing the son of his childhood friend while he was staying with the family almost seven years ago.
The 35-year-old pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three charges of sexual assault, two of which relate to the older brother who was seven at the time and one which relates to the younger brother who was five, at their Dublin home on dates between August 2012 and March 2013.
The jury of three women and nine men returned a verdict of guilty on the count of sexual assault relating to the younger boy and a verdict of not guilty on the first count of sexual assault relating to the older boy after deliberating for over five hours.
Judge Melanie Greally thanked the jury for their careful attention to the case. She remanded the man on continuing bail and adjourned the matter for sentencing on October 11, next.
During the trial, Fiona McGowman BL, prosecuting, told the jury that the accused and the boys' mother had been childhood friends and the man had been living with her and her children for five months in 2012.
He then moved out as he had secured work outside of Dublin but occasionally stayed with the family.
The jury were first shown a DVD recording of the younger boy's interview with specialist gardaí in 2013.
The then eight-year-old boy told gardaí that the accused was not nice to him, that he said he hated him, he hurt him and he “had sex with me”. The child said the man would wake him up and drag him into different beds, including his mother's bed and an attic bed the accused used to sleep in.
He later explained to the garda that when he said the man had sex with him, he meant that the man pulled down his own trousers and made him touch his willy. He said the man would cover his mouth and nose with his hand and make him touch his willy by grabbing his hand.
The jury were also shown a DVD recording of the older boy, who is now 17, being interviewed by specialist gardaí in 2013.
During the interview, the child named the accused as the “person who did the things to me”. He told the garda he couldn't say what had happened but handed her a notebook and said he had written it down.
He said the accused “had sex with me, meaning mating. It should happen between a man and a woman not a child”.
The child told the garda he didn't really know what sex was but said it's how you have kids.
He said the man pulled down his trousers and "made me touch him on places that I should not have touched". He later explained that this was like his “goonies, my balls”. He said the man “made me touch him the same place he touched me”.
He said it happened twice, once in his own bed and once in the bed where the accused used to sleep in the attic room. He said it happened around Christmas.
Judge Greally directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty on the second count of sexual assault relating to the older boy.
