By Dymphna Nugent

A jury of 8 men and 4 women are set to began deliberating in the case of a Waterford man accused of six counts of sexual assault. The allegations range from July 2004 to June 2005 in various locations across the city. The man, who is now in his 50s, is accused of assaulting a teenage girl, who claimed she was between 15 and 16 years of age at the time.

The complainant gave her first statement to Gardaí in 2020 reporting the assaults. The trial, which began hearing evidence on Wednesday of last week is expected to reach a verdict tomorrow, December 10th in Waterford Circuit Criminal Court. Reporting restrictions were ordered by Judge Eugene O’Kelly to protect the identity of the complainant.

Grooming

The complainant, now aged in her 30s told barrister for the prosecution, Eoghan Cole that from the age of 8 she began attending a community organisation in Waterford. She noticed from the age of 14 that a volunteer team leader, who was some 20 years her senior, began paying her more attention than he did the other members of the organisation.

She said: “He would grab me and mess with my hair.” This, she told the court, was always in front of others in a group setting.

It is her belief that she was groomed over a year or more, with Eoghan Cole SC telling the jury that ‘grooming changes how people react’ to a sexual assault. He said people who groom others ‘cloak themselves in plain sight’ so that special attention becomes more accepted, and inappropriate actions increase in frequency until they are no longer deemed unusual.

Allegations
Count 1

The first of the allegations was on a date unknown between July 1st 2004 and August 3rd 2004 in a car which was travelling in Waterford. The complainant alleges that the accused pushed her head down onto his groin area while he was driving and kept it there until he stopped the car. She says she was 15 years old at the time and sat up with both of them laughing off the incident. Barrister for the defense, David Bulbulia said such an allegation was ‘nonsense’ and referenced the unlikeliness of such reckless behaviour from a team leader.

Count 2

The second count of sexual assault refers to an alleged incident in a premises in Waterford just days later on a date unknown between July 1st 2004 and August 31st 2004. She says the accused grabbed her and tripped her up until she was lying on the floor of a room. He straddled her and held her hands. In her evidence, she said he was laughing at the time. She asked him to get off her and he touched her breasts over her clothes with his hands. Again, she said they both ‘laughed it off.’

Addressing the jury, the complainant said she felt very confused afterwards and didn’t tell anyone. She said she ‘put it down to messing.’

Count 3

At the same location on a date unknown between July 1st 2004 and August 31st 2004, she said she went to an outdoor shed to look for something. At the time, she recalls she was speaking with another member of the organisation who was guiding her as to where she should be searching. She alleges that the accused man followed her, grabbed her, and pulled her inside a shed and locked the door from the inside. He pulled her back against his front, and she recalls that he had an erection. While he was kissing her neck, she says she was still on the same telephone call. The accused put his hand inside her top and her bra and began rubbing and ‘grinding’ his penis against her back.

When she ended the call, she turned around and he had his penis outside his clothes in his hand. She alleges that he asked her to touch it. She told the court she left the shed immediately and she could see him standing inside still ‘waving it around,’ in reference to his still erect penis. The complainant told the court that when she exited the shed, she saw a member of the organisation looking in the direction of the shed. She said ‘she was standing staring like she knew what was going on.’ However in her evidence, the woman in question stated she did not recall such an incident or even of being at that location on those dates in question.

Reflecting on the alleged incident, the complainant said: ‘I was embarrassed, ashamed, like I was the one who did something wrong.’

Counts 4 and 5

On a date unknown between September 1st 2004 and October 31st 2004 when the complainant would have been 15, she says the accused collected her in his car after school. He asked her, she alleges, to wear her school uniform, specifically her school skirt- which she says she did not. When they arrived at a residential premises she said ‘he started mauling me, hands all over me.’ He sat on the couch and leaned her backwards to rest against him. She said he began touching her breasts over her clothes and then motioned for her to take her jumper off, which she did. She recalls him opening the buttons on her shirt and kissing her neck. When asked by Mr. Cole if she wanted this to happen, she said ‘no.’

He led her to a different room in the house with his trousers around his ankles. Initially he asked her for a massage, while he lay down on his front. She recalls straddling his back and doing as he asked. He turned around and indicated he wanted to massage her and lay her down. He opened the clasp on her bra and asked her to turn over onto her back. The massaging began on her breasts and she said ‘he masturbated until he ejaculated’ on her stomach. In her evidence, she says she was told not to move until he retrieved some tissue to clean her off. She alleges that he referred to her parents not needing to know what happened.

Count 6

The final count of sexual assault refers to an incident in the accused’s vehicle on a date unknown between May 1st 2005 and June 30th 2005. He offered a lift to the complainant and her friend, and while the complainant was getting out of the car, she says he ‘grabbed her’ by the backside.

Nature of the Relationship

The complainant told the court that she lost her virginity to the accused at the age of 16 in 2005. Sexual intercourse, she said was ongoing from then until 2008 when she was no longer attending the organisation.

In his closing speech, Mr. David Bulbulia SC said his client denies all allegations before the court. He said the man acknowledged he was in a sexual relationship with a 17 year old girl, but remains adamant that no relationship or sexual intimacy occured while she was under the age of 17. Additionally, the accused says any sexual relationship between them was always consensual.

Addressing the jury, he said allegations of child sexual abuse are repellant, however he said ‘a false allegation of child sexual abuse is just as repellant.’

It is the position of the defense that ‘a distortion of dates’ is going on, with the complainant aware that no sexual intimacy occurred until she was 17, which is the age of consent.

Reflecting on the six counts of sexual assault before the court, he said the allegations of the two car journeys, the shed, and the incident on the floor where he straddled her were ‘nonsense.’ However he said while the incidents in a residential premises involving a massage and subsequent ejaculation sounded like incidents which may have happened consensually, he said the timeline and dates were wholly incorrect. He reiterated that his client is pleading ‘not guilty’ to all six counts.

Jury

Tomorrow morning Judge Eugene O’Kelly will deliver his closing speech to the jury and will formally charge them with delivering a verdict- namely ‘guilty or not guilty.’ A verdict is expected tomorrow afternoon.

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