A 12-year-old girl and her nine-year-old brother were sexually assaulted by a workman while their mother was out of the house, it was claimed in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.
The children's mother said her children claimed they had been chased and sexually abused. "I didn't want to do the things he wanted me to do," the girl is alleged to have said.
The woman said that after she came home she noticed the two children were whispering amongst themselves. They were reluctant to tell her what happened but later showed her where the alleged abuse took place and their hiding place behind the wardrobe.
It was the second day of the trial of the 61-year-old man, who denies sexually assaulting the children at their Louth home on December 11th, 1996.
Dr Peter Keenan, a consultant with Temple Street Children's Hospital in Dublin, said he examined the girl and found no signs of penetration.