A High Court judge has ordered that the mother of a child rape victim be brought before the court to face allegations of contempt of court.
The woman is alleged to have made a video recording in court of her 17-year-old daughter’s rapist and to have posted it on Facebook. The identity of the 30-year-old Carlow man cannot, by law, be published to protect the statutory anonymity, under the Children Act, of the victim.
On June 26th, he was jailed for seven years for repeatedly sexually abusing his partner’s teenage niece while she lived with them. He had pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of sexual assault and one count of orally raping the child in the home they were living in on dates between December 2022 and January 2023.
The girl told the court she was 13 when the defendant started “grooming” her. She said she has struggled with anxiety, depression, trauma and flashbacks as a result of the abuse.
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On Thursday, prosecuting counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing brought the case back before the Central Criminal Court seeking an “attachment order” in relation to contempt of court proceedings.
He told Justice Sean Gillane that the day after the sentencing hearing, a garda involved in the case became aware of a video posted on Facebook. The post showed a screenshot of an online report of the sentence hearing from the Carlow Nationalist alongside a video recording from inside the courtroom of the sentencing hearing.
The video, which was played in court, shows a member of the press and the defendant. Ó Dúnlaing told the court the complainant had not waived anonymity and that the sentence hearing was held “in camera”, a legal term meaning it was not open to the general public.
Counsel told the court the video post had been viewed about 300 times but had since been taken down.
Ó Dúnlaing told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was seeking an order that the woman be brought before the court “to answer for the criminal offence of contempt of court” in respect of the video.
He said the DPP was also seeking an injunction prohibiting any further postings or removal of any other online platforms of any content identifying the defendant or the victim.
The detective garda testified that he called to the victim’s mother last week, informing her that the DPP was to apply for a motion of contempt of court.
He said on Wednesday he called at her home to serve notice of the motion, but she was not there. He said he then called to her mother’s home nearby and met her.
He served the notice on her, and the woman told him she was in fear of going to prison. He testified that he advised her to get legal representation.
He said a representative of Ferry Solicitors subsequently contacted him, but “raised the issue of the ongoing dispute” over legal aid reform which has seen many solicitors withdraw their services to the scheme. Solicitors have withdrawn services with effects including the adjournment of thousands of criminal cases and difficulties for those accused of offences in securing legal representation.
Ó Dúnlaing said the respondent, who is unemployed, should be informed “there is no issue of legal aid”.
