A security guard said he saw a man “yank” a toddler up by her arm after she fell on a shopping centre travellator, the trial of a man accused of child cruelty and the sexual abuse of a toddler has heard.
The 30-year-old Dublin man has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges involving sexual abuse and reckless endangerment of the little girl, as well as child cruelty to her and her brother, on dates between February and April 2018.
The girl was aged just under two, and the boy was aged between two and three years old at the time of the alleged offences. The man cannot be named for legal reasons.
A security guard told Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, that he observed a man walking several paces in front of two children in the shopping centre on April 5th, 2018.
He agreed with Mr Costelloe that it was not immediately clear to him that the children were with this man due to the distance between them.
The witness said the little girl dropped something, and the boy helped her to pick it up. A member of the public then told the man that the girl had dropped something.
He said the man got the children, and they walked on a travellator, which was not moving due to a mechanical issue. He saw the man put the girl down, and she fell shortly afterwards.
'Deeply concerning'
The security guard said he saw the man pick up the girl “forcibly”. “He grabbed her hand and yanked her up by her arm.”
He said he found this “deeply concerning” and remained in the area for a few minutes. He also radioed a colleague to “keep an eye” on the man and children for “health and safety reasons” because of the girl's fall.
He said he asked the shopping centre's CCTV control room to monitor them and confirmed that he had arranged for gardai to be called.
The security guard agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that it was more likely that he had spoken to the man rather than a member of the public. He confirmed that he was standing at the travellator to advise people that it had a mechanical issue.
A second security guard gave evidence that his colleague asked him to monitor the man and the two children.
He said he saw the man walk past the pay stations at an exit door while the children were around 50m behind outside a shop.
He said he told the man that he “can't leave the kids like that,” and the man then came back and told the children to come along. He said the girl, who seemed to be two or three years old, was crying and appeared to have red marks on her face while the boy, who looked around four, was “minding” her.
The witness said that after the man and children left the shopping centre, they went into a nearby premise before returning inside the shopping centre.
He told Mr Clarke that the pay stations are beside the exit doors of the shopping centre. He also agreed that he told gardai that the man turned back and told the kids to hurry up.
A local garda confirmed that she had watched CCTV footage from the shopping centre to see if she could follow the movements of the man and the two children.
She told Mr Clarke that she did not get any instructions to look out for the children's mother. She said she could not say the exact length of time they were in the shopping centre but agreed that it was in the morning.
The jury was also shown a floor plan of the shopping centre, marked with locations of CCTV cameras.
A compilation of CCTV footage showing the movements of the man and the two children within the shopping centre was also played for the jury.
Extensive bruising
In other evidence, a statement from Dr Beatrice Nolan, consultant haematologist, was read to the jury by Mr Costelloe.
In the statement, Dr Nolan said the girl was referred to her clinic in 2017 due to concerns that she may have a bleeding disorder.
She was advised that extensive bruising on elbows, thighs, back and face was observed when the girl was examined in the hospital in November 2017. The doctor said the girl was seen at her clinic in February 2018, and her mother advised that she bruised easily but had no extensive bleeding before this.
Dr Nolan concluded that there was no evidence that an underlying bleeding disorder was the cause of the bruising on the girl.
The trial continues before Mr Justice David Keane and a jury.
In relation to the little girl, the man has pleaded not guilty to seven charges. He has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting her 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.
He has further pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting her by biting her on her genital area.
The man has also pleaded not guilty to four charges of child cruelty against the girl, including failing to seek medical help for an injury to her wrist, causing bruising to her face and body, ill-treating her at a Dublin shopping centre and leaving her outside an apartment door.
In relation to the boy, the man has denied three charges of child cruelty. He has pleaded not guilty to causing bruising to his penis, body and face, to ill-treating him at a Dublin shopping centre and to leaving him outside an apartment door along with his little sister.
