Waterford mother convicted of child cruelty following seven-week trial

A mother of five has been convicted of child cruelty, following a seven-week trial.

The 38-year-old, who is from the UK, had already been found not guilty of sexual assault, relating to allegations she had sex, or simulated sex, with her child when he was six and seven years of age.

On Friday, the jury convicted the woman’s 64-year-old partner, who is also from the UK, of nine counts of raping his son, from the age of six years old, and child cruelty. He was acquitted of raping the child with a poker.

The child gave evidence that it was his father who raped and beat him and locked him in a box for six hours. The charge of cruelty which the woman was convicted of was a general charge of allowing the abuse to happen at the hands of her partner.

The boy’s father faced nine counts of raping the boy, nine counts of raping the boy with a poker and one count of cruelty. The mother faced two counts of sexual assault relating to allegations she had sex with the boy and one count of cruelty.

Both parents had pleaded not guilty to the allegations which are alleged to have occurred between 2009 and 2011 in their Waterford home.

The parents had originally faced a total of 82 charges, but 60 of these were withdraw last week following legal argument.

After the jury delivered its final verdict, Mr Justice Robert Eagar indicated he intended to grant the woman bail until sentencing. However, gardaí “strongly” objected, saying the woman was a flight risk.

Her partner was remanded in custody on Friday after his conviction. He will be sentenced on July 11th. Prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC said the woman’s partner was her only tie to Ireland and now that he has been jailed gardaí believed she may flee.

A Waterford garda told the court the woman has four other children who are in care and who she has no contact with. Most of the rest of her family, including her mother, live in the UK.

The family home where the abuse occurred has since been sold and the woman lives in rented accommodation in another county. The garda said she has no means to support herself in Ireland. Her partner had been receiving social welfare, but payments stopped before the trial.

In support of bail, the woman’s defence counsel said she has surrendered her passport to gardaí and her partner is willing to keep paying her rent from custody.

Mr Justice Eagar said in light of the garda objections he would remand the woman in custody. She will be sentenced separately from her partner on July 4th.

The seven-week trial heard harrowing evidence including allegations that the child’s father filmed the child having sex with the mother and showed the footage to people who visited the house.

Other allegations heard by the jury included that the father defecated on the child and threatened to kill him while holding a gun to his head.

The child was taken into care just before his eighth birthday after telling his teacher his father had been beating him and he “couldn’t take it anymore.”

He was sent to a foster home, where he was allegedly sexually abused by another boy.

After a year, the boy was sent to another foster home and he it was here he began to disclose details of the abuse he suffered. His foster mother recorded the allegations in detailed daily logs which she handed over to gardaí.

While in the second foster home the boy began displaying highly disturbing and sexualised behaviour. He made sexual threats to the mother when he got upset, was found interfering with animals and seemed to have a obsession with faeces.

His foster mother told the trial she loved the boy dearly, but couldn’t handle his behaviour. The HSE was forced to send him to the UK for specialised residential treatment as no such treatment was available in Ireland. The last thing he said to his foster mother before leaving was: “I feel like a dog that nobody wants.”

The now 12-year-old remains in the care unit. He gave evidence via video-link from a room in the Old Bailey in London. Several concessions were made for the child witness under the new EU directive on victims rights.

Barristers did not wear wigs or gowns and the boy did not have to take an oath. Instead, Mr Justice Eagar asked him if he knew the different between telling the truth and telling lies.

The child also had an intermediary with him who would explain questions and help clarify his answers. This was the first time such a measure was used in an Irish court.