A jury has begun its deliberations in the case of a 67-year-old man who denies the sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman at a business premises in Waterford over a decade ago.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied the single charge of sexually assaulting the young woman on a date unknown between January 1st, 2009, and December 31st, 2010, when he was arraigned at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court last week.
The complainant, who is now 34, said the accused assaulted her when she was 19. She claims he spiked her drink when she called to ask him for a lift home and that she woke up with her leggings and underwear around her ankles with the accused sexually assaulting her.
She also alleged the man texted her the next morning and asked did she remember what had happened. When she said she did not, he texted her back a word describing what he had done and then later sent her a photograph of her genital area.
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Defence counsel, Colman Cody SC said in his summing on Tuesday that it was notable the woman was vague about when the alleged sexual assault happened as the charge covered a two-year period and she could not say if it happened in summer or winter or if she was still at school.
He also said the complainant’s evidence was marked by “significant discrepancies, inconsistencies, anomalies and contradictions” and he pointed to the text exchange between the parties after the alleged sexual assault as just one example of such discrepancies. He said she could not remember what happened the night before and yet years later she was able to outline in detail how she woke up to find him assaulting her.
He noted the woman also alleged the man had asked her for sexual favours some time before the date in question. Mr Cody asked was it credible to believe, that if that was true, she would call to the man’s business to ask for a lift home on the night of alleged assault.
Mr Cody described as “dubious” the woman’s explanation for continuing to work part time for the man after the alleged sexual assault because she was afraid people would ask questions and find out what happened if she quit, and she did not want anyone to know about the assault.”
Conor O’Doherty BL, for the prosecution, suggested to the jury in his summing up that they should look at a private Facebook exchange between the accused and the complainant in 2021 when she accused the defendant of raping her.
“You raped me, that’s what you did – I looked up to you as a father figure and you sexually assaulted me and you don’t even have the decency to admit it,” wrote the woman.
The court heard the accused replied that he would give her his version of events but did not want to put it in writing.
Mr O’Doherty said the accused fabricated a story about a consensual kiss – which the complainant denied ever happened – in order to explain the Facebook exchange after he was arrested by gardaí.
He said the jury should also give weight to the evidence of the complainant’s friend who testified that she saw an incoming text message from the accused which was consistent with her evidence.
The jury will resume their deliberations on Wednesday.
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