A man has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court accused of a “catalogue of sexual abuse” against two young girls in the County Mayo pub where he worked over 10 years ago.
The man, who can not be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of sexual assault, 13 counts of oral rape, and one count of anal rape against the first child; and 16 counts of sexual assault and 13 counts of oral rape against the second girl on dates between June 1999 and September 2000.
The girls were between eight and 10 years old at the time of the alleged offences.
Ms Deirdre Murphy SC, prosecuting, told the jury in opening the trial that the girls, who were school pals, would regularly go to one of their mother’s work places after school and would use the toilet in a nearby pub. They also began to watch cartoons there in the afternoon.
She said this was an “ideal situation from the parents’ point of view” as they knew the girls were nearby.
Ms Murphy said it was the prosecution’s case that this went on for several months until one day the accused man was working in the pub and asked the girls if they had ever seen a man’s penis. He allegedly asked them to return the next day if they wanted to see one and they did so.
She said it was the State’s case that this started “a catalogue of sexual abuse of the girls” which happened to them simultaneously upstairs in the pub. She said it allegedly started with the girls touching him, masturbating him, and then progressed to their giving him oral sex.
Ms Murphy said it would be alleged that the man also touched the girls intimately and in the case of one of the girls penetrated her anus with his penis.
She said it would be alleged that this conduct went on for up to a year and in return the accused would ply the girls with crisps, cigarettes, money and, in the case of one of the girls, alcohol.
Ms Murphy said the abuse ended when the accused sexually assaulted one of the girls on her own and she became frightened so the girls stopped going to the pub.
On day two of the trial one of the girls, now 19-years-old, told the court she kept going back because she was getting alcohol and cigarettes. She outlined details of the alleged abuse which included giving the accused oral sex, masturbating him, him touching her intimately and performing anal sex on her friend on one occasion.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of six men and six women.
