A woman has been cleared of putting her daughter in danger of being sexually abused by her partner in one of the first prosecutions of its kind in the State.
The man (52), who was described in court as effectively the girl's stepfather, has been convicted of three counts of sexually assaulting the teenager at the family home in Limerick from May 2008 to December 2009 .
During the trial at Limerick Circuit Court, the victim claimed her mother knew she was being sexually abused but did nothing about it. She said the abuse started around the time of her 14th birthday.
After six hours of deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on three of the 20 sexual assault charges against the man.
There were loud cheers and claps of joy from the public gallery when the girl’s mother (41) was cleared of the endangerment charge, which she had contested.
2006 legislation
Outlining the case against the woman, John O'Sullivan, prosecuting, said the legislation had only come into effect in 2006. He said the essence of the case against her was that she knew the abuse was taking place but failed to do anything about it and had therefore acted intentionally or recklessly.
In her evidence, the victim who is now aged 19, claimed her stepfather had groped and felt her outside her clothing and that he often referred to her and her mother as his “two whores”.
The woman claimed that he twice put his hands down the side of her pants and ripped her underwear from her while her mother sat in another chair in the same room.
Leaving home
Under cross-examination she agreed that after leaving the home of her mother and her mother's partner in 2009, she moved in with her biological father. She had since moved out having made an allegation of a sexual nature against him.
She denied she had set about on a deliberate course to destroy her mother’s relationship with her new partner.
As the victim was a minor at the time of the assaults, Judge Carroll Moran ordered that the offender's name be added to the register of sex offenders. He remanded him on bail until sentencing on February 21st, when a victim impact statement is expected.