Woman would not go through court ordeal if rape claim was false, jury hears

A Dublin woman who was sexually abused as a child has denied to a jury that she made a false rape allegation in 1996 because …

A Dublin woman who was sexually abused as a child has denied to a jury that she made a false rape allegation in 1996 because she became revolted with a man after consensual sexual intercourse.

Mr Anthony Sammon SC, defending, had suggested her rape allegation was untrue and that something had happened after consensual intimacy which turned her against the accused man.

"It's not a false allegation. It's the truth. I wouldn't put myself and my family through this. It's the truth," the 22-year-old woman told the Central Criminal Court.

She had agreed with Mr Sammon that a family friend had sexually abused her when she was aged six to nine. Her parents had made a complaint to gardai but withdrew it because they wanted to spare her a court case.

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Answering Mr Gregory Murphy SC, prosecuting, she agreed she had had sex with other men since becoming an adult.

The 25-year-old accused man pleaded not guilty to raping her in his car in Dublin on September 15th, 1996.

The woman said she met the man about 3 a.m. when returning from a function. He had drink taken and told her he was hungry.

She agreed to go with him to a fast-food restaurant because she fancied him. They started to kiss. She got into his car but instead of going for food they parked on the roadside where they continued to kiss.

She said: "At that stage I started to become a bit uncomfortable. That is when I asked him to stop."

He tried to get her to perform oral sex and raped her. The woman claimed the man threw a window cloth at her to clean herself. Mr Sammon suggested his client had handed it to her.

Opening the case, Mr Murphy said the alleged victim was entitled to engage in kissing and then to say: "Thus far you can go and no further".

The trial before Mr Justice Smith and a jury continues today.