Rapist acquitted of babysitter charges

A convicted rapist has been acquitted at the Central Criminal Court of raping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old babysitter in Roscommon.

The 60-year-old man was found not guilty by a jury after 37 minutes of deliberation and a four-day trial. He had denied four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape of the girl at his home between January 1983 and June 1984.

The man was convicted last year for a similar offence against another babysitter at the Central Criminal Court and was jailed for 11 years.

The victim told the court she was sexually assaulted from the age of seven and raped when she was 11 while staying in his house after babysitting.

Mr Justice Barry White excused the jurors from service for seven years.