The trial of a man accused of raping a woman with Down syndrome has heard from 10 women who say they were harassed or pestered by a man near where the alleged rape took place.
Most of the incidents occurred within a few days of the alleged rape of the woman, who the prosecution say was lured off the street and back to the man’s home after she became separated from her mother.
The accused admits there was some sexual contact with the woman but maintains it was consensual and that he did not know she was mentally impaired.
He has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, sexual assault and having sex with a mentally impaired person at his Dublin home on June 12th, 2013.
Defence counsel, Padraig Dwyer SC, told the court that the accused “doesn’t deny approaching women on the street”.
The trial previously heard the accused told gardaí he frequently had sex with women he met on the street, but denied having sex with anyone on the date in question.
Media reports
The 10 women told their stories to gardaí following an appeal for information and media reports about the alleged rape. Some spoke to officers during door-to-door interviews in the area.
On Tuesday, an 18-year-old told the jury that the accused (34) approached her in mid-June 2013 and offered her wine and cigarettes. She said he grabbed her arm and asked her whether she would have sex with him for €200.
The witness said in her Garda statement that she “kicked him in the balls and punched him in the jaw” before running away and leaving him “on the deck”.
She told Caroline Biggs SC, prosecuting, that on another occasion she and her friend were walking in the area and when they saw the accused, asked him for a lighter. She said the man asked them how old they were and where they were from.
She said they left and he started following them, so they started to run. She said they ran into two undercover gardaí and told them they were being followed.
When asked what this man looked like, she replied: “He is the man sitting in the box,” and that she saw him many times in the area.
Dark complexion
The other women all described the man who approached them as being of dark complexion with dark hair.
Three of the witnesses said they saw the man who approached them either entering or standing in the doorway of the house where the rape is alleged to have taken place.
Another woman said that on June 7th she was parked in the area waiting for her partner with the windows down, as it was very hot.
She said a man approached very slowly and stared into her car for a couple of minutes before putting his head in the window.
She told the court he said: “Hello, it’s hot, you’re hot, do you feel hot?” The woman felt threatened and intimidated and did not reply to him.
The trial will continue on Thursday before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of six men and six women.