A Co Louth girl has told the Central Criminal Court in Dublin how a neighbour began sexually abusing her when she was eight and progressed to full sexual intercourse and oral sex.
The 53-year-old accused man has pleaded not guilty to 14 offences from 1989 to 1997. He denies seven charges of indecent assault, three of forced oral sex, three charges of having unlawful carnal knowledge when she was under 15 and one charge of unlawful carnal knowledge of her on February 9th, 1997, when she was under 17 but over 15.
Now aged 17, she told Mr Justice Kelly she did not complain over the years because the man had manipulated her mind and she was afraid to say anything. She said the accused panicked and ran to the bathroom to flush away a condom the last time he had sex with her on February 9th, 1997.
While they were in her bedroom, she heard her parents' car arrive unexpectedly and confirmed it by looking out through the curtains. She went into the bathroom and locked the door.
The girl's parents recalled the time they came home and found the accused man's van in their driveway. He met them in their kitchen and left shortly after. Her mother said she noticed her daughter's bedroom curtains "moving very quickly and being pulled back again as if someone looked out and let them fall back again". The girl's father said he was surprised to find the back door locked. When he looked through the glass he saw the neighbour come into the kitchen from the hallway. When he opened the door for them, he saw he had sweat on his forehead.
The teenager told Mr Kenneth Mills SC, prosecuting, she was eight when the first offence happened. She and her brother were staying with the accused and his wife after their parents had an accident in 1989. She said the accused first had full sexual intercourse with her in a spare bedroom in his house when she was 12. He first had oral sex with her a few months before her 13th birthday and it continued for a few months.
She told some school friends about the abuse and eventually told a garda she was friendly with. He brought a female garda to her and on March 20th, 1997, they went with her to tell her mother.
She agreed with Mr Patrick Gageby SC, defending, she and her family were friendly with the accused man and his wife. The couple "pampered" her and her brother. She said she knew" from the start that the accused man's alleged touching of her was wrong.
The hearing continues.