NEWS
Accused in stepdaughters rape case
fails to stop trial, Irish Times, 30 January 2007
Mary Carolan
A man charged with 114 counts of raping and indecently
assaulting his two stepdaughters from when they were three to 12 years
old has lost a Supreme Court attempt to halt his trial.
Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman noted yesterday that one of the girls,
referred to as H, was diagnosed with "battered baby/child syndrome"
after being admitted to hospital in 1978 with bruising of the spinal
area, neck and other areas, months after the first incident of alleged
abuse took place.
A brother of the girls was also admitted to hospital on two occasions in
1978 and also diagnosed with battered baby syndrome, bruising of his
genital and other areas and injuries "suggestive of non-accidental
infliction".
As a result of those diagnoses, both H and her brother were placed in
care for a time and a local doctor was advised by the health board to
keep an eye on the family, the judge also noted. A district nurse would
also have called on the family regularly.
However, none of the doctors who were in contact with the family had
reported anything untoward and one doctor had told gardaí it appeared to
her that the children were "well cared for". The children's mother had
also denied the allegations of abuse and had denied the girls' claims
that she treated them for "scalding" symptoms resulting from the alleged
abuse.
Giving the decision of the three-judge Supreme Court, Mr Justice
Hardiman said this was a "difficult case". There was a public interest
in having the man's guilt or innocence decided by a jury, he said.
Equally, however, the very frequency and violence of the assaults
alleged, including full penetrative intercourse with a very young child,
seemed to indicate there would, at some point, have been clear physical
evidence referable exclusively to such offences if they occurred, the
judge said. © 2007 The Irish Times
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