The trial has begun in the case of a 66-year-old Waterford man accused of the sexual assault of a now 34-year-old woman. The man, who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions applied by Waterford Circuit Criminal Court, is accused of a single count of sexual assault on dates ranging from January 1st 2009 until December 31st 2010.
The jury, made up to 10 men and 2 women were present in Waterford Circuit Criminal Court today for the first day of evidence hearing in the trial, which is expected to continue into next week.
Father Figure
The complainant, who cannot be named in order to protect her identity, took to the witness box this afternoon to give evidence. She detailed to the court the nature of her relationship with the man, who was her employer, and a man she viewed always as 'a father figure.'
Responding to questions posed by Prosecutor for the State Mr. Conor O'Doherty BL, the woman spoke of the high regard with which she had always viewed the accused. He had been known to her since her early teenage years and had been someone who eventually offered her a job in his business in the Waterford area.
In her teenage years, whilst not of a legal age to drink alcohol, the woman claims the accused would supply her with alcohol for very little money.
It was not unusual for the accused to offer to drive the complainant back to her home after work, an offer which she accepted on occasion. Additionally, there were occasions when he would drive her and her friends home from a night out to save them the trouble of getting a taxi in the busier hours. At this time, she recalls being 18 years of age.
First Instance
Addressing the jury, the woman recalled an occasion when she and her friends were driven home by the accused.
"I asked him to drop me home first as it made sense with me living the closest, but he said he would drop my friends home first and then bring me home."
She claims that having dropped her friends home, the man took a detour to a carpark where he stopped the car and turned the engine off. She said he then asked her repeatedly to perform oral sex on him, which she refused several times.
Speaking in court, she said when he asked this, she 'thought he was a creep.'
Sexual Assault
She continued in her employment and some time later, when she was closer to 19 years of age, she was socialising with friends in an establishment in the area. She left the premises, stating she wanted to go home, and her friends remained behind.
She was aware that the accused was working nearby and contacted him to ask him if it would be possible to have a lift home from him, if he was free. He agreed and told her that he was just finishing up and if she popped by her place of employment, he would be with her in a short time and would bring her home.
Mr. O'Doherty asked the woman if she had consumed alcohol that night, to which she responded that she had, but that she had her wits about her and knew when she had enough and when it was time to go home.
On arrival at her place of work, the accused unlocked the door to let her in and offered her an alcoholic beverage. Initially she declined and eventually, following several offers of a drink, she agreed to a vodka.
She recalls the drink being prepared in a room separate from the one she was in. In her evidence, she said 'I had a couple of sips. I then felt dizzy and almost disassociated.' She says she did not feel well or 'right' and did not finish the remainder of the drink.
Addressing the jury, she said: 'I ended up lying back, I felt disassociated, I remember staring at the ceiling. He asked me to have sex with him, I said no. I remember I was wearing big boots, they would have been hard to get off. I was also wearing PVC pants.I remember him taking off one of the boots.'
The complainant believes that she lost consciousness at one point, because she recalls 'coming to' and realising that something was happening to her body.
Aftermath
'When I came to, my pants were down, my underwear was down, my dress was still on, and my boots were off. His head was in between my legs.'
The accused allegedly informed her that they were 'just having a bit of fun.'
Initially confused and frightened, the woman jumped up and ran outside. She remembers seeing that it was nearly daylight, and that when she entered the building, it had been approximately 12.45am.
On waking the following morning, she received a text message from the accused asking if she remembered the previous night. He then proceeded to send an image to the woman, accompanied by the words, 'It's your vagina.'
Family
Following the event, the complainant continued to work as normal, however, a female friend began accompanying her to work and waiting until the end of her shift so that she was never alone.
A month after the alleged sexual assault took place, the complainant encountered family members of the accused. She said they had seen images on the accused's phone and following a confrontation, the accused walked away looking like 'a dazzled rabbit.'
In a phonecall to the complainant following this, the accused said if she went to the Gardaí, he would board the ferry to England. She advised him that she never wanted this to get out in the public domain, that she was afraid of what people would say, and did not want people talking about her.
An official complaint was eventually made to Gardai after the accused saw a post on social media written by the accused in September 2021. In his post, he spoke of the importance of 'integrity', 'trust,' and a need for societal 'change.'
On foot of this, she messaged him directly asking him how he can post such a statement having so negatively impacted her life. In response, he advised he would talk to her, telling her his version of events but stated he did not want to write anything down.
In a message sent to the accused and read out in court, she said: 'You raped me, that's what you did. You sexually assaulted me, I looked up to you as a father figure.'
There was no reply to this message. An official complainant was then made by the accused to Gardaí and an arrest was made in 2022.
The accused has denied the charge brought against him by the DPP and the trial continues tomorrow with the cross-examination of the complainant.
