Family Court: Children taken into care after incest claims

Two children have been taken into care after a mother made claims of incest against the alleged “grandfather” they were living with.

A District Family Court in the east of the country was told the mother of one of the children told the Child and Family Agency her own father had sexually abused her and he was the father of her child.

She also alleged he had fathered two other children by his two other daughters, and one of these children was in his care and being raised as his and his wife’s child.

The agency took both of the children into State care over a month ago, pending the results of DNA testing. The mother of a third child, allegedly also fathered by her father, has denied her sister’s claims and has said her child was fathered by another man, the court was told.

The father has denied the allegations and seeks the return of the two children to himself and his wife. The mothers, the children and the father in the case have supplied DNA samples to the agency to help identify paternity. The matter is also under investigation by gardaí.

A solicitor for the agency told the judge the DNA results had been delayed. The samples were initially sent to a lab in Ireland, but because of the more "scientifically complicated" analysis involved, they had to be sent to the United States. The lab there was aware of the urgency of the situation and hoped to get the results back as soon as possible.

Concerns

She also said the agency believed the mother’s allegations of sexual abuse were credible and even if the DNA results came back negative, there would be concerns. She asked the court to extend the interim care order for the two children until the end of the week, pending results of the DNA tests.

A solicitor for the women’s father said they were initially told the DNA results would be back in 10 days, but they were still in limbo. She also said the children’s removal from their home had been “very distressing” and the worst the social workers had seen.

The judge extended the order until Thursday, pending the DNA results.

In a separate case, the judge granted a protection order to a husband and wife against their adult son. The mother gave evidence of her son having absconded from a psychiatric unit and coming home and threatening them with knives.

“He threatens to burn the house down when he doesn’t get his way,” she said.

The father said their son was incapable of living alone and they’d asked psychiatric services to find sheltered accommodation for him. They had previously had protection orders, the couple told the judge, when their son “went through spells”.

Domestic violence

“He needs more help than we can give him,” the father said.

“That’s unfortunate, and very sad,” the judge remarked, making the order until October, pending a full hearing of the case.

In another case involving domestic violence, a mother of two applied for a barring order against her partner. She told the judge on a day last month, she was watching television and he had pulled her by the hair, threw her to the ground and thrown a jar of coffee at her.

The following day, while she was in the bath, he came in and asked her why her legs were shaved. He accused her of having an affair, caught her by the throat and held her under water. “I got an awful fright,” she said.

The judge said he believed the mother's evidence and granted a barring order for two years.