Galway teenager (16) goes on trial accused of raping girl he was dating

Sonya McLean

A Co Galway teenager has gone on trial charged with the rape and sexual assault of a teenage girl he had been dating for a few weeks.

The now 16-year-old boy pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to four charges, three charges of sexual assault involving oral rape and one of rape of the then 13-year-old girl on dates between June and July 2023.

The incidences are alleged to have occurred in a Co Galway housing estate where both children were living with their families. The accused was 14 years old at the time.

Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, told the jury in her opening address that the complainant’s mother got a Snapchat from her child on July 7th, 2023 telling her that the accused had raped her.

The message said that the complainant didn’t want to go to the gardaí and said she just wanted her mother to know – she said it had been going on “a while”.

Snapchat message

A screenshot of that Snapchat message was later read out to the jury while the complainant was present via videolink.

The girl accepted that she told her mother in the message that she did not realise the accused had raped her until her friends helped her realise.

She said in the message that the accused had asked her for sex but she kept saying “tomorrow, tomorrow”.

The complainant also agreed that she told her mother in message that the accused “would hit me”.

She also sent her mother photographs of bruising on her legs.

The complainant agreed with Ms Rowland that the accused caused some of this bruising by pinching her.

She also identified a photograph of a bruise on her left breast which she agreed with counsel had been caused by the accused when he bit her through her top.

The complainant did not outline when the accused had caused the bruises.

A video of an interview the girl had with specialist gardaí in July 2023 was played earlier to the jury. She told gardaí that she had been “dating” the accused since June that year – about three weeks before she said he raped her.

In that interview, the girl told gardaí that the accused kept asking her for sex and she kept saying “tomorrow, tomorrow”.

She said then one day when they were both in his house he got on top of her, pushed her shorts aside and shoved his penis into her vagina.

She told gardaí that it happened on the Tuesday and she told her mother via the Snapchat message on Friday.

She said after it happened, she had been asking her friends what she should do and they told her what had happened was rape because she didn’t want to do it.

The complainant described incidences of the accused grabbing her head and shoving it down to his penis for her to perform oral sex on him.

She described two other similar incidences which she said were oral rape. She said one of them occurred on the same day of the rape.

The girl told gardaí that after the rape she was very upset. She said was bleeding and felt a burning when she went to the toilet. She said she thought she may have had a kidney infection.

Bruises

She told the gardaí about bruises she had from the accused. She said there was a “massive bruise” on her chest.

Earlier in her opening speech, Ms Rowland said the complainant’s mother discussed the message with her daughter as soon she got it.

Counsel said after further conversations with the complainant’s uncle, a decision was made to contact gardaí.

Ms Rowland told the jury in her opening address that the complainant was also examined in her local sexual assault treatment unit where it was discovered that she had bruising inside her vagina.

Counsel said the accused met with gardaí by arrangement some time later.

He accepted that they had been “seeing each other” but said she had called it off “out of the blue” one day. He denied that any sexual interaction had taken place between them.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McGrath and a jury.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.