Charges of sexual abuse denied

A 56-year-old man has denied to Judge John O'Hagan and a jury at Monaghan Circuit Court yesterday that he had any sexual relations with a 13-year-old schoolgirl between 1982 and 1984. The woman, who is now aged 30, had alleged during four days in the witness-box that she was sexually abused by the defendant on a number of occasions when a teenager. The defendant told the court on the fifth day of the trial that her allegations were false. The trial continues today.