Man on trial for alleged sexual assault of teenage girl
The trial began on December 3, 2025.
A Waterford man in his late 50’s is on trial on six counts of sexual assault. The charges stem from allegations made by a woman in her 30s. The complainant alleges that the man sexually assaulted her across multiple locations in Waterford when she was between the ages of 15 and 16.
The trial was held in camera at Waterford Circuit Court with reporting restrictions in place to protect the identities of the involved parties.
The jury of four women and eight men were given strict directions by Judge Eugene O’Kelly to not discuss or divulge any detail from the trial outside of the jury room.
David Bulbulia BL and Tara Geoghegan BL represented the accused under the instruction of solicitor Michael Lanigan.
Eoghan Cole SC acted on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) alongside John William Fennelly BL.
Mr Cole officially opened the trial on December 3, addressing the jury about the difference between inference and speculation: “You cannot speculate, but you can make reasonable inferences on what is presented to you.”
Mr Cole stressed that the act of sexual assault is not necessarily a violent or forceful act, but an action with ‘a sexual element’ done without consent.
He said: “In terms of consent, it is something which is continuous and clear, unambiguous and active. It’s not some vague and nebulous thing.” The complainant was the first witness to take the stand. She described how she knew of the accused since she was seven years old. She had attended an organisation where the accused worked in a senior role.
When she entered her mid-teens she said the accused would approach her in a crowded room and physically engage her.
“He started paying more attention to me. In front of other people he would grab me and start messing with my hair.”
Prosecutor Eoghan Cole later described this physical engagement as part of the grooming process, whereby an adult predator "breaks down" a targeted person's boundaries through "brazen" behaviour.
The first assault is alleged to have happened in the accused’s car in summer 2004, when the complainant was 15 years old. She claimed that the man grabbed her by her head and pulled her towards his groin area, while he was on the phone. When asked by Mr Cole if she understood why that happened, she said no. She said: “I don’t know if it was anything sexual at all.”
The complainant went on to describe an incident soon afterwards whereby the accused "jumped out" at her inside the premises of the organisation.
They were alone in a room when he allegedly picked her up and "straddled" her on the ground, touching her body ad chest. The complainant described laughing off the incident at the time, claiming: “I thought he was messing.”
Mr Bulbulia asked why his client would act so recklessly in the presence of CCTV. The complainant said that the accused had his back turned to the camera and that he "controlled the CCTV".
Later on during that time period, the complainant described another incident on the premises of the organisation. In her testimony, she claimed that the man snuck up on her. She was on a phone call with another member of the organisation when the man reportedly began groping her all over her body and rubbing up against her. At one point, he is said to have taken out his penis and was "waving it around like a toy" and "coaxing" her to touch it. The complainant described seeing a woman involved in the organisation standing nearby. The witness said she felt embarrassed seeing the woman, feeling like she "knew what was going on".
The complainant alleged an incident took place in autumn 2004 when the accused brought her to his house and performed multiple sexual acts on her.
She stated: “He asked me to wear my school uniform.”
When she was brought into the sitting room, the accused began groping her. She said: “He was mauling me.”
According to her statement, he brought her into a bedroom, where he continued to assault her before ejaculating onto her body.
The complainant claimed to have "lost her virginity" to the accused in autumn 2005, when she was 16 years old. The defence produced medical evidence of the complainant denying being sexually active to a GP in that time frame. The complainant said her mother was present at her medical appointments and she was embarrassed.
The complainant first reported the matter to Gardaí in July 2020.
When questioned by Garda in 2020, the defendant denied any allegation of grooming or sexual assault, stating: “I didn’t sexually assault [the complainant]. Anything we did was consensual and she wasn’t a day under 17.”
During the interview, the accused referred to an organisational "policy" about senior members having relationships with "16, 17-year-olds". He claimed that such relationships wouldn’t be allowed if the teenager was "vulnerable" or received "preferential treatment" in the organisation. He claimed he checked to "make sure" she wasn't vulnerable.
He admitted to having a sexual relationship, or "friends with benefits" relationship, with the complainant over "5,6 years".
The defence called three witnesses to give evidence. All three witnesses had a personal relationship with the accused and are, to varying degrees, involved within the organisation.
The first witness denied seeing the complainant after the incident referred to. Another witness denied giving the complainant a lift home on the day she claimed to have lost her virginity. The witness did tell the court that she asked the accused if he was in a relationship with the complainant. He denied the claim. At the time, the complainant was aged 18.
All three women were asked about the ‘policy’ referred to in the accused's Garda interview but couldn’t recall any such policy.
The trial continues.
