A father was forced to break down a toilet door in an Ocounty-based children’s centre, where he claims his five-year-old daughter was victim of a sexual assault.
The incident took place between 3.30pm and 4pm on Monday last in the facility, which cannot be named for legal reasons.
Ismeal Pope, contacted the Galway Advertiser last week to tell of his horror when he discovered a teenage boy had followed his five-year-old daughter into a cubicle and the ladies’ toilet at the centre, and told her to undress.
The shocked parent said, “My daughter was playing in there and an older boy, a teenager had followed her into the toilet. We knew something was up. We went to the toilet to see if she was OK and saw that this boy was in there with her.”
He added, “We had to break the door in to get my daughter out.”
He claims the staff at the centre turned a blind eye to the boy’s carry-on as “he was known to the staff”. Mr Pope continued, “When challenged the staff could not understand the problem and continued to let the boy play in the areas with the small children. These facilities don’t have the staffing level to protect their children.”
A spokesperson in Mill Street last night confirmed that gardaí were making enquiries into the incident but that no formal complaints had yet been made. Gardai had been informed of the incident.
