Accused denies rape and indecent assault charges

A 71-year-old Kerryman has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Tralee, charged with the rape and indecent…

A 71-year-old Kerryman has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Tralee, charged with the rape and indecent assault of a young girl 40 years ago. The offences are alleged to have occurred between April 1969 and April 1975.

The indecent assaults began when she was 11 and occurred in the bedroom where she slept, the woman, who is now 54, outlined to the court.

The rapes – the charges include four counts – ended when she was 16, she said.

The accused has pleaded not guilty to all 18 charges. The parties cannot be identified.

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She visited the man and his wife, or babysat for them, and some of the alleged offences occurred in the man’s family home or in the presence of young sleeping children, the woman outlined to Mary Rose Gearty SC, for the prosecution.

The trial, presided over by Mr Justice Paul Butler, continues today.