A man told gardai that he had sex with a 12-year-old girl while a nun watched nearby, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has been told.
The man said he later told the nun he felt his actions were wrong, to which she replied: "Only God knows what's really wrong." He also claimed the girl consented to sex after "making overtures" to him at her 12th birthday party.
He denied raping the girl while the nun in charge of the centre held down the girl's feet.
Det Garda Maurice Walsh, who said he was present when the man made these claims, agreed in cross-examination by Mr Patrick Gageby SC, defending the man, he had not taken notes of the interview and further agreed that this was contrary to Garda regulations.
He denied taking a second statement from the man whom Mr Gageby suggested was, from the first statement, "obviously insane".
Det Garda Walsh said he did not know the man was schizophrenic until last week and said he appeared coherent during interrogation. The jury also heard Garda witnesses tell Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley, prosecuting, of the arrest and detention of the man in October 1996.
It was the fourth day of the trial of the former nun, now 51, and the 50-year-old man. Both deny two charges of raping the woman, now 21, and two charges of having unlawful carnal knowledge of her on dates from January 1st, 1987, to January 31st, 1990, in a childcare centre in the south. The woman also denies four further charges of indecently assaulting her in the same period.
The jury heard that the accused man told gardai he was raised in the home where the abuse is alleged to have taken place.
As an adult he visited the home and got to know the nun in charge. He occasionally slept over and became acquainted with the alleged victim. He found her to be pretty and friendly and she told him she found him attractive.
On the night of her 12th birthday, he went to a nearby town and got drunk. He returned to the home and went into the girl's room. She had made advances to him at her party earlier in the day and he wanted to resolve the matter by chatting to her.
He said he took off his clothes and climbed into bed beside her. She took off her night dress and they had sex. He added that the girl was overdeveloped for her age, was highly intelligent and knew "the moral rights and wrongs of the world". He felt she was jealous of his relationship with the nun, which was not sexual.
He later told the nun about what happened and she said he was "like St Augustine". He told her he thought he had done wrong to which she replied: "Only God knows what's really wrong."
A second statement, taken later the same day, was read to the jury, in which the man allegedly said the nun was in the bedroom while he was having sex with the girl. He denied the nun held the girl's legs, as the alleged victim has claimed.
Mr Justice Carney told the jury that the statements made by the man were not evidence against the former nun and any potentially damaging claims about her in them should be ignored.
The hearing continues.