THE TRIAL has opened at the Central Criminal Court of a man accused of the sexual abuse and ill-treatment of his son.
The 52-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of anal rape, 12 charges of oral rape, 24 charges of sexual assault and one charge of the wilful neglect or ill-treatment of the same boy on dates between April 11th, 2001 and June 23rd, 2004.
The offences are alleged to have occurred while the child was aged between 12 and 15 years. The now 20-year-old complainant told Aileen Donnelly, prosecuting, that his parents went out most evenings to the pub and that he minded his younger siblings.
He told Ms Donnelly that during his last week in national school he hurt his hands in a fall. He said his hands were “awful sore” and he went home and told his parents.
His father grabbed his hands and squeezed them while asking “is that sore?” and he was then thrown on the ground, he added.
The complainant said they went to a local doctor and on to a hospital for X-rays, and were then referred to a larger hospital. He said during the drive to the hospital that his father stopped at a pub and “had a few drinks”, and that he himself was in pain. He was aged about 12 at the time.
He got on well with his father sometimes, except when he was being abused, but added he was scared of him and always had to be nice to him for fear of being hit.
The complainant told Ms Donnelly his father came into his room to abuse him for the first time when he was aged 12 or 13. He was told not to tell anyone. He felt “bad” and did not really understand what was going on.
This abuse continued happening “a couple of times a week”. He sometimes said ‘‘No’’, but his father would hit him on these occasions and he would have to comply anyway. He said he did not want these things to happen, and that his father should not have done what he did.
He told Ms Donnelly: “It was wrong, he was my father like,” when she asked him what his attitude to the abuse was.
He continued that sometimes his father would perform one type of sexual abuse on each occasion, but that he sometimes performed more than one type of act. He said he would be abused three or four times a week.
He often told his father to stop, he added, but his father would hit him. He said he left home in 2004, but the following year asked his father to meet up with him.
He told Ms Donnelly: “It was not all bad,” and said, “I was hoping he would apologise, I was hoping he was sorry.”
Earlier, Ms Donnelly told the jury, in opening the case, that they might find some of the evidence distressing, or might feel sympathy for a man accused of such offences, but asked them to approach the case clinically.
She said they cannot nor should not act out of sympathy or ill-will towards any party in the case.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of seven men and five women.