Gardaí are preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to a series of sexual assaults by an 81-year-old man on a paraplegic woman in her 80s at a nursing home over a period of six years.
The man was arrested at the nursing home at around 7 p.m. on Tuesday night after gardaí set up a surveillance operation and caught the man as he was allegedly about to engage in a sex act on the woman.
The victim has no movement and no power of speech, but it is believed she was aware what was taking place and was silently crying when the abuse was uncovered on Tuesday.
The surveillance operation was established after a member of the nursing staff interrupted the man as he apparently assaulted the patient.
According to garda sources, the nurse was unsure as to what she had interrupted, but suspected the man had been sexually assaulting the woman. Gardaí were contacted immediately and with the co-operation of staff at the nursing home they set up Tuesday's surveillance operation.
The man was arrested at the scene and was brought to Dundalk Garda station. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
He was held for around 12 hours and, after making a statement to gardaí, was released. A file on the case is being sent to the DPP.
Gardaí believe the abuse may have been ongoing for up to six years. The man had visited his victim every Tuesday evening during that time.
While his victim shared a room with a number of other elderly residents, the man would have frequently been alone with the woman during his visits. He did not know his victim, but had befriended a member of her family who frequently brought him to see the woman.
He is a married man with a number of grown-up children. One source said nursing home staff were "distraught" when they learned a patient in their care had been targeted in such a manner.
