Woman allegedly sexually abused by her family members tells court she was raped by younger brother

Isabel Hayes

A woman who was allegedly sexually abused by seven of her family members has told a court that she was anally raped by her younger brother.

The woman, who is deaf, gave evidence at the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday in relation to one of her younger brothers, who is accused of sexually abusing her over a period of years.

He is the third of four of her brothers who are before the court.

The woman has already given evidence in relation to three of her uncles and two other brothers.

Seven men, aged between 32 and 55, are on trial, accused of a total of 98 counts of sexually abusing the complainant at various stages over a 17-year period between 1996 and 2013.

The men deny all the charges against them. None of the parties involved can be named for legal reasons.

The woman is giving her evidence via video-link and through two interpreters – an Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter and a deaf relay – as well as an intermediary who is a linguistics expert. There are also two interpreter monitoring teams present in court to ensure the woman is being interpreted correctly.

Charts and symbols are also being used to assist the woman to communicate, with the court hearing earlier in the trial that she has challenges communicating timelines in terms of calendars and sequence.

This brother, Accused E (32), is accused of 16 counts of sexual abuse against his sister at three different locations over an eight-year period between 2003 and 2011. He has denied nine counts of anal rape and seven counts of raping her.

The woman told Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, that her brother put his “dick” in her “ass” in two different locations. She said he was like another one of her brothers accused of abusing her - “the way he would annoy”.

“I was a little bit fed up of sex,” she said. She told the court she did not want her brother to do this to her.

When asked if she could remember anything her brother did to her in another location, the woman replied: “Nothing.”

The trial continues before Ms Justice Caroline Biggs and a jury.

Accused A – the woman's 55-year-old uncle - is accused of a single count of raping her on a date between December 2009 and April 2011.

Accused B (48) – another uncle - is accused of eight counts comprising rape, oral rape and anal rape of the complainant on dates between December 2008 and December 2010. He has denied the charges.

Three younger brothers, as well as Accused E, are also accused of sexually abusing her over varying periods of time.

Accused C (34) is accused of 45 counts – 22 of rape and 23 counts of anally raping her over a 12- year period between 2001 and 2013.

Accused D (33) is accused of 22 counts of sexually abusing his sister over an 11-year period on dates between 2002 and 2013. He has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges of rape and three counts of anal rape.

The fourth brother, Accused F (also 32), has denied five counts – three counts of anal rape and two counts of raping his sister on dates between 2007 and 2010.

Another uncle, Accused G (45), has denied a single count of raping her on a date between 1996 and 1997.

Accused C is further charged with the sexual abuse of two of his younger sisters.

He is charged with one count of sexual assault in relation to one sister, Complainant 2, on a date between 2005 and 2006 when she was a child. He is also charged with two counts of rape and one of anal rape of this woman on dates between 2016 and 2019.

He is also charged with one count of anally raping a third sister, Complainant 3, on dates between 2013 and 2014.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.