A Dublin youth who was aged 14 when he allegedly raped a young girl is to stand trial.
He appeared at the Dublin Children’s Court where Judge John O’Connor granted bail with strict conditions.
The youth, now aged 16, is charged with raping a girl described as being slightly younger than him, at an address in Dublin in 2012 but he has not yet indicated how he will plead.
He was charged and made his first court appearance in relation to the allegation after gardaí received instructions from the DPP.
He was remanded on bail to appear again at the juvenile court in two weeks when it is expected that he will be served with a book of evidence and returned for trial. He was warned not to contact the girl after the court heard gardaí had fears he would intimidate witnesses.
Due to the seriousness of the case, his case will then be transferred to the Central Criminal Court but it could take up to a year before the trial gets under way, Judge O'Connor was told.
Det Garda Denise Bambrick told Judge O'Connor the teenager "made no reply" when he was charged and the book of evidence will be ready to be served in two weeks.
She agreed with defence solicitor Gareth Noble the boy had been held at an earlier stage and was released while a file was prepared for the DPP and "directions have now come back".
She objected to bail due to the seriousness of the charge which on conviction carries a possible life sentence. Det Gda Bambrick also cited witness intimidation concerns in the objection to bail.
She feared the witnesses would be “intimidated and interfered with”. However, she agreed with defence solicitor Gareth Noble that the boy was aged 14 at time, the girl was “slightly younger” and he has avoided her over the last year.
The teenager was accompanied to court by his mother and another relative who has offered to stand bail in the sum of €500, which Mr Noble said was “a lot of money for people of modest means”.
Pleading for bail, he said the teen would give an undertaking not to have any contact with the complainant and in this case there would be “careful monitoring”.
Mr Noble said that if bail were refused, his client could spend up to a year in custody before his trial begins in the Central Criminal Court.
Judge O’Connor said it was a difficult case; the teenager faced very serious charges, the alleged victim was very young and there were concerns about witness interference. Against that, he said, the alleged incident was in 2012 and there is considerable time until the trial will be reached.
He agreed to grant conditional bail in the boy’s own bond of €100 along with the €500 independent surety.
The teenager was warned bail would be revoked if he broke the conditions which include a 10pm-8am curfew and an order to sign on three times a week at his local Garda station. He was told to stay away from a location which features in the charge.
The judge also notified him that he cannot have any contact directly or indirectly with witnesses, and he explained that this included any form of communication including social media.
The teenager remained silent while the terms were set and replied “yeah” at the end of the hearing when he was asked if he understood.