A teenage boy accused of the rape of his girlfriend told gardaí the allegations were “false” and the “biggest lie”.
The now 16-year-old accused pleaded notguilty at the Central Criminal Court to three charges of oral rape and one of rape of the then 13-year-old girl on dates between June and July 2023.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred in a Co Galway housing estate where both children were living with their families. The accused was 14 years old at the time.
The court heard on Thursday that the boy was interviewed by gardaí by arrangement in February 2024 when he was 15.
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A memo of his interview was read to the court. He told gardaí he and the girl added each other on Snapchat several months before they first talked. He said they met on occasion and she then started going out with his friend.
The boy said the complainant texted him after she and his friend broke up, and a short time later they started to meet up. He said they had kissed.
He said they dated for a month before the girl texted him to break up. She then blocked him online, which “confused him”, he said.
The boy told gardaí he “never” asked the girl for sex and denied all of the allegations.
When an extract from the girl’s statement about the alleged oral rapes was read to him, the accused replied: “No way, I’d never do such a thing, that’s disgusting.”
Later, he told gardaí that he “didn’t know how to respond” to the allegations that he orally raped the girl, describing them as the “biggest lie”.
He said he had “no clue” why the girl would say these things.
He accepted he had pinched the girl, but “not in a hard way” and said she’d pinch him as well. He denied giving the girl bruises or biting her breast.
An investigating garda told John Berry SC, defending, that the boy answered all questions put to him during the interview.
A forensic examiner from a specialist child and adolescent sexual assault treatment unit gave evidence about an examination of the girl conducted in early July 2023.
During cross-examination, she said the girl advised her the alleged incidents happened in late June. She said it had taken some time to confirm dates with the girl, who was “tearful” and finding it difficult to talk about the alleged incidents.
Outlining her findings, the forensic examiner said tests showed the girl is more susceptible to bruising.
Bruises were noted on her breasts, inner thighs and genital area. Theexaminer said that in her professional opinion a localised bruise to the girl’s genital area was “consistent” with the report of “painful digital and vaginal penetration”.
She said a bruise on the girl’s breast was “consistent” with the complainant’s report that the boy had bitten her through her clothing.
The witness said the inner thighs aren’t a “typical” site for accidental bruising and that small circular bruises to her inner thighs were “highly suspicious” in the context of an alleged sexual assault.
A friend of the complainant gave evidence that the girl told her that the accused boy had put his penis in her vagina.
She said the complainant asked her what she would do if it was her and she replied that she’d tell her mother. She told the court the girl said she was going to tell her mother.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McGrath and a jury.
