During the joint trial of Nora Wall and Paul McCabe in June, prosecuting counsel Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC told the jury that under the Aiders and Abettors Act a person who aided and abetted a rape as alleged in this case could be charged with the same offence as a principal.
Ms Regina Walsh, now 21, described how she was twice raped in her bed in the home by McCabe while Wall held her legs and ankles.
She said she was nine when first raped and that it happened again at the time of her 12th birthday. She also alleged the nun indecently assaulted her when she brought her to sleep in her bed because of a bed-wetting problem. The victim told Mr Buckley that she was taken into care when six years old and was very happy there at first.
She said she and another resident would sometimes sleep with Wall in her room where there were a double and single bed joined together. Wall would sometimes sleep between them.
The victim said she had a bedwetting problem and was not allowed wear panties in bed. Wall would sometimes come to her room at night and bring her to the toilet.
She would then get into bed with her and begin to touch her. She gave further details of the indecent assault in evidence.
She recalled Wall and McCabe coming to her room late one night when she was 10 years old. The light was off but she could recognise them with the light from the hallway. She told Mr Vaughan Buckley that McCabe undressed, got into the bed beside her and began touching her body.
Wall sat on the bottom of the bed and held her ankles while the rape took place.
She did not consent to what he did. She thought Wall was wearing a nightdress at the time. She remembered her 12th birthday and the friends and relatives who attended. It was around that time she was again raped by McCabe with Wall helping him by holding down her ankles.
Ms Patricia Phelan (26), who was also a resident at the home, alleged she saw the rapes take place.
She alleged that on one occasion she threw open the door of the room and shouted: "What the f..k is going on?". This witness said the rapes happened within months of each other around the time the victim was nine or 10 years old.
Wall said in evidence she never had any sexual contact with any of the children in the home.
She added that the alleged victim was known for making up stories and had previously alleged that she was sexually assaulted by her own father. "Nothing was beyond her," she added.
McCabe said he had made up admissions to gardai that the alleged victim had consented to sex on her 12th birthday. He said he had not been given adequate treatment during questioning for his schizophrenia and had not taken his medication for a number of weeks previously. He signed the statement because he was under pressure from gardai.