Woman tells court brother raped her 'over and over again'

Eimear Dodd

A woman has told the trial of seven men accused of familial abuse that her brother sexually abused her on numerous occasions.

The woman, who is deaf, is continuing her evidence on Monday at the Central Criminal Court trial in relation to one of her brothers, to be referred to in reporting as Accused C. She has already given evidence in relation to three uncles who she alleges sexually abused her.

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

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 17 years between 1996 and 2013. They are her three uncles and four brothers.

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

Accused C is also accused of four counts of sexually abusing another sister and of anally raping a third sister. He denies any wrongdoing.

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 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. The court has heard she has challenges communicating timelines in terms of calendars and sequence.

The woman told Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, that her brother sexually assaulted her near a lake.

When asked if she wanted her brother to do this, the woman replied “I said no”. She said she was frozen.

Ms Small asked the woman to look at a chart and point to her age when this incident allegedly occurred. The court was told the woman had pointed to 15 years old.

The ISL interpreter said the woman had also signed 15.

The woman said this happened in the summer, and she went home afterwards. She said a female cousin was there too.

She said her brother told the cousin not to tell the police. She said “I was silent. I felt trapped”.

Later, she said her brother “was panicked” and that her cousin “saw”.

When asked what her cousin saw her brother do, the woman replied her cousin was talking fast. “I was looking at them but I didn’t know what they were saying”.

She also detailed another alleged sexual assault.

She was asked if she wanted her brother to do this. “I told him what are you doing, and he said 'don’t tell my girlfriend'”.

She said it was “not okay”.

The woman indicated 21 on the chart when asked what age she was when this occurred. She said it happened “over and over again”.

Earlier, the woman gave evidence that her brother put his finger in her vagina. She said it happened in the garden in the summer about 30 times. She said she told him no.

When asked what age she was when this happened, she indicated by pointing to a chart that she was 13, 17 and 18.

Ms Small asked the woman how she felt emotionally when her brother put his finger into her vagina. She replied: “it’s difficult to express what I felt inside. It's hard to express”.

When asked if it was okay or not okay for him to have done this, she said: “not okay. You’re my brother. He didn’t care.”

She said her brother put his finger in her vagina at another location as well. She said she felt uncomfortable and told him no.

The trial, which is set down for four months, continues before an extended panel of 15 jurors and presided over by Ms Justice Caroline Biggs.

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.