A man has gone on trial charged with neglect, reckless endangerment and sexual abuse of his partner’s very young children.
The 29-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the now seven-year-old girl and eight-year-old boy, pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 10 charges involving sexual assault, reckless endangerment and child cruelty on dates between March 2018 and April 2018. The children were just under two and three years old at the time.
Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, told the jury that it would hear evidence the nearly two-year-old girl was taken to hospital in April 2018, following a home visit by gardaí and social workers, after they had noticed bruising and facial injuries.
On examination of the child, doctors discovered severe injuries to her genital area. Medical staff concluded that the injuries were so traumatic that there would have been “potentially fatal consequences” for the child had those injuries been left untreated.
Mr Costelloe said that six months earlier, in November 2017, an investigation commenced after the then 18-month-old girl was taken to the Emergency Department of a Dublin hospital due to extensive bruising on her body.
This led to a referral being made to Tusla and the gardaí being alerted.
Shopping centre incident
Mr Costelloe said in April 2018 gardaí were contacted when concerns were raised about the way a young boy and girl were being treated by a man in Dublin shopping centre.
The jury were told they will be shown CCTV footage from the shopping centre that day and hear evidence from security officers who were working there.
Mr Costelloe said that same day, gardaí discovered the siblings on their own outside an apartment block.
A decision was then made to arrange a visit to the children’s home and gardaí attended there with social workers that same day, when a decision was made to take the little girl to hospital.
Mr Costelloe said the man did not want the child to be taken to hospital.
Counsel said during the child’s medical examination her nappy was removed and it was “immediately apparent that she had a significant injury to her vagina”.
Mr Costelloe said the injury was so severe that the back of the child’s vaginal wall “had effectively been obliterated” and that the injury had extended it to the little girl’s perianal region.
Counsel told the jury that doctors concluded that the injuries “had potentially fatal consequences” had they been left untreated.
The girl was also X-rayed that day and it was discovered that she had a fracture to her wrist. The doctors determined that the injury was about least four weeks old as it had begun to heal.
The following day, the boy was brought in for medical examination and was found to have bruising on his body.
Mr Costelloe said the children were later interviewed by specialist gardaí and the jury will be shown videos of these interviews. The man was arrested and questioned.
Charges
The man pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the infant girl by penetrating her vagina with an object and to intentionally or recklessly endangering her by failing to seek medical help for injuries to her genital area and on another occasion by failing to seek medical help for an injury to her wrist.
The man also pleaded not guilty to wilfully assaulting or ill-treating the infant boy by causing bruising to his penis, body and face and to wilfully assaulting or ill-treating both children at a Dublin shopping centre.
The man pleaded not guilty to wilfully, illtreating, neglecting, abandoning or exposing the children by leaving them alone together outside the door of an apartment.
Finally, the man pleaded not guilty to wilfully, assaulting or illtreating the girl by causing bruising to her face and body and additionally to sexually assaulting the same child by biting her on her genital area.
The trial continues before Mr Justice David Keane.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help
