Deaf woman tells court her younger brother raped her when she was five

Eimear Dodd

A woman has said she was sexually abused by a younger brother as the Central Criminal Court trial of seven men accused of familial abuse continues.

The woman, who is deaf, is continuing her evidence on Tuesday in relation to one of her brothers, to be referred to in reporting as Accused D.

She gave evidence of two separate incidents during which she said this younger brother sexually abused her.

Accused D (33) is accused of 22 counts of sexually abusing his sister over an 11-year period on dates between 2002 and 2013. He has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges of rape and three counts of anal rape.

She has already given evidence in relation to four other accused men – her three uncles and another brother - who she alleges sexually abused her.

Seven men, aged between 32 and 55, are on trial, accused of a total of 98 counts of sexually abusing the complainant at various stages over a 17-year period between 1996 and 2013. They are her three uncles and four brothers.

The men deny all the charges against them. None of the parties involved can be named for legal reasons.

The woman is giving her evidence via video-link and through two interpreters – an Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter and a deaf relay – as well as an intermediary who is a linguistics expert. There are also two interpreter monitoring teams present in court to ensure the woman is being interpreted correctly.

Charts and symbols are also being used to assist the woman to communicate, with the court hearing earlier in the trial that she has challenges communicating timelines in terms of calendars and sequence.

The woman told Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, that this brother is several years younger than her.

She said he anally raped her. She said she “felt” her brother was following her. “He was trying to play with me, but it was sex.”

The woman said she couldn't remember if her brother ejaculated and that she didn't sign anything to him. She said it took place in the morning in autumn.

When asked if she wanted her brother to do this, she replied “I really, really didn’t”.

The interpreters told the court that the sign made by the woman can be used in different contexts and here, its meaning was “stuck with, had no choice”.

She said an aunt “saw”. Later in her evidence, she said this aunt went downstairs and told her mother.

When asked how she was feeling physically, the woman's answer was initially interpreted as “when I was small, I had an upset tummy and I was sick”.

The ISL interpreter clarified to the court that a more appropriate interpretation was “I was sick to my stomach, I was disgusted”.

The woman was asked what age she was when this incident occurred. She pointed to five years old on a chart. She said she could not remember how old her brother was.

The woman then gave evidence of a second incident involving this brother. She said she was lying on a bed in a bedroom and he was behind her. She said this happened in the morning in summertime.

When asked if she tried to say or sign anything, the woman replied that she tried to scream as her aunt “could hear”.

She said she felt frozen.

The trial, which is set down for four months, continues before an extended panel of 15 jurors and presided over by Ms Justice Caroline Biggs.