Six women and five men have been remanded on bail to appear before the Central Criminal Court for trial after being charged with more than 200 counts of rape, sexual assault, and neglect of children.
The 11 accused, who range in ages from their 20s to their 70s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, were brought before court on Thursday. Each was served with a completed book of evidence and returned for trial.
The 220 offences are alleged to have occurred on dates between 2014 and 2016.
The judge said there were strict reporting restrictions in place to prevent identification of the alleged victims.
The 11 accused were arrested by gardaí last June following a two-year long investigation led by specially trained gardaí attached to the Garda National Protective Services Bureau.
A Detective Sergeant attached to the bureau gave evidence of serving each of the 11 accused with a copy of the State’s book of evidence against them.
A Garda Inspector made an application before the court to have each of the accused returned for trial.
The Garda Inspector said the Director of Public Prosecutions had consented to each of the accused be sent for trial to the current sittings of the Central Criminal Court.
The judge advised each of the accused they had 14 days from the date of the hearing to inform the State of any persons they may seek to call upon to act as an alibi witness at their trial.
Legal restrictions
Each of the accused stood up in the body of the court when their name was called but they did not speak during the proceedings.
The location of Thursday’s district court hearing, as well as the location of where the offences are alleged to have occurred, cannot be reported as part of strict legal restrictions placed on the media.
“I want to make sure the children are not identified,” the judge said.
Each accused was granted free legal aid. Their bail conditions state each accused must not contact the alleged victims either directly or indirectly, or via social media; they must surrender their passports and not apply for new travel documents; they must sign on weekly at different Garda stations; they must notify gardaí of any change in their address; and they must be available to gardaí at all times via a charged and credited mobile telephone number.
A woman, aged in her 30s, is charged with six counts of neglect/cruelty; 13 counts of sexual exploitation; and 17 counts of sexual assault. She made no reply when charged by gardaí.
A man, aged in his 50s, is charged with six counts of neglect/cruelty; 14 counts of sexual assault; 11 counts of rape; and, 12 counts of sexual assault. In response to one charge, the man allegedly told gardaí: “Not true that one”. In response to another charge, he allegedly told gardaí: “I hadn’t much dealings with [named person]. She was always up at [named person’s] house.”
A woman in her 30s is charged with eight counts of sexual assault; and one count of sexual exploitation. She did not reply to the charges, gardaí said.
A man in his 20s is charged with five counts of rape; 16 counts of sexual assault; and 18 counts of sexual exploitation. He did not reply to the charges, gardaí said.
A man in his 40s, is charged with 10 counts of rape; 12 counts of sexual assault; and, seven counts of sexual exploitation. The man allegedly told gardaí, in response to some of the charges, “It didn’t happen.”
Exploitation
A woman in her 30s is charged with 14 counts of sexual assault, and 14 counts of sexual exploitation.
A woman in her 50s is charged with eight counts of sexual assault and four counts of sexual exploitation.
A man, aged in his 70s, is charged with five counts of sexual assault, and, four counts of sexual exploitation.
A man, aged in his 30s, is charged with two counts of sexual assault.
A fifth female, aged in her 30s, is accused of two counts of sexual assault, as well as two counts of sexual exploitation.
All these accused made no reply to the charges, gardaí said.
A sixth female accused, aged in her 30s, charged with one count of sexual exploitation, also did not reply to the charge.