A man accused of raping a 14-year-old girl told gardaí, during an interview, that everything the girl said was true, a trial heard.
The man (21), who cannot be named for legal reasons, was aged 17 when he allegedly sexually assaulted and anally raped the girl in a derelict building during a game of truth or dare.
The man has pleaded not guilty before the Central Criminal Court to one count each of sexual assault, anal rape and defilement of a child at a derelict site in Co Kildare on May 14th, 2016. The counts of anal rape and defilement are alternative charges relating to the same incident.
Derelict house
On the third day of the trial, a local garda told Lorcan Staines SC, prosecuting, that the accused was arrested and detained for interview in a garda station. She said that because the accused was a juvenile at the time of his arrest, his father was required to be present for the interview.
A local garda sergeant told Mr Staines that during the interview, the accused initially denied going to the derelict site with the complainant on the date in question. The accused said the allegations made by the complainant were not true.
The witness said that the accused left to go to the bathroom and when he was on his way back he asked if he could talk to the sergeant without his father being present. The sergeant said he explained this was not possible.
He said the interview continued and the accused agreed there was something he wanted to tell them without his father being present. The accused agreed it was embarrassing to talk with his father there.
Tell the truth
The sergeant said the accused's father then spoke to the accused in another language and encouraged his son to tell the truth. He said that after this, the accused said that whatever the complainant says was true.
He said the accused was asked if everything the complainant said was true and the accused answered yes. He said the accused was asked to tell them what happened and the accused said that everything she said was true.
The sergeant said the period of detention came to an end and the accused was released from custody, but that the accused requested an opportunity to say more and a second interview took place.
Second interview
He said during this interview, the accused initially accepted he knew the complainant was in first year in secondary school, but later denied that he knew this. The accused denied knowing she was aged 14 and said he thought she was aged 15 or 16.
The accused told gardai he had hugged the complainant and had taken down his trousers so that his penis was out. The accused denied that his penis entered the complainant at any point.
He said that the complainant had asked him to have sex and that she did not say stop at any point during the incident.
The sergeant agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that it appeared in the second interview the accused was not accepting everything the complainant had said.
The trial continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury.
