A man on trial for falsely claiming a priest raped him gave evidence at his trial yesterday and repeated the allegations against the priest.
In direct evidence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, he said that the only reason he subsequently told gardaí that these things did not happen was so as to get home.
He outlined what he says happened on seven successive visits to the priest's house when he was six years old, including anal rape and attempted oral rape, when he claimed he told the priest he would bite his penis off if he put it into his mouth.
He said that, despite attending several psychiatrists over years, he first "revealed" the alleged sexual abuse to a counsellor whose name he picked from the Golden Pages and then told him "everything from the start because it was easier to talk to a counsellor than to a psychiatrist".
He also said that shortly after he told his mother in March 2003 about the sexual abuse, she had a stroke and that both his father and he had been verbally abused by gardaí who said to him he was "a f****** liar".
He told defence counsel Damian J Colgan that he was in bed when the gardaí came to arrest him in June 2003 and he was told if he didn't get dressed "you'll be going to the f****** station in your pyjamas".
The 33-year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies making a false statement to Det Garda Brian Kavanagh at Kevin Street Garda station on June 18th, 2003, that acts of indecent assault and buggery had been committed on him by the priest from February to May 1981.
He told prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn in cross-examination, on day 11 of the trial, he still maintained he was sexually abused by the priest and that his allegation was not false.
He agreed with Mr McGinn that despite dealing with various psychiatric services from his childhood and being prescribed a plethora of medication for depression and other matters, he never "revealed" to them that he had been sexually abused and said he spoke to them about "other issues in my life". Pressed by Mr McGinn to give an example of these issues, he said he did not want to speak about them in court but was told by Judge Patricia Ryan that he had to answer the question.
The accused replied that his then girlfriend's abortion was an issue and when asked by Mr McGinn about "other issues", he replied that he wasn't prepared to talk about his whole life in court.
When Mr McGinn suggested that the jury had to determine if he was telling the truth and needed to know about these matters, he replied that another issue was an ongoing one of "comfort eating" which had affected him to this day, but there were no others.
The accused told Mr Colgan earlier, in his direct evidence, that in a five-hour interview with Det Sgt Martin Mooney and Det Garda Kavanagh, he was told he was "f****** going nowhere and to sit down" when he tried to leave for an appointment.
He told Mr Colgan that gardaí "told me basically that my father and mother were liars" and that he was facing 10 to 12 years in prison. He said he asked to speak to Det Garda Guckian because she had been nice to him and she advised him that if he told gardaí what they wanted he would get out of the station quicker.
He told his sister what Det Garda Guckian said and that he was going to change his statement but she said he should stick to his original claim. The accused told Mr Colgan he was "very distressed and suicidal" at this time and that "the format of interview that followed was basically constructed for me".
"The rest of it was wrote out for me by Det Garda Kavanagh," he said and agreed with Mr Colgan that he had also added in a part seen and heard by the jury apologising to the priest and for wasting Garda time but said this was done at the suggestion of the gardaí. "They told me it would look good if I answered it on camera," he replied to a query from Judge Ryan. He said his sister had to stay with him all that night after his release because he was feeling suicidal.