A WOMAN told a court today (Thursday) that a man ordered her to perform sex acts on him on multiple occasions while he was babysitting her when she was a little girl.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was giving evidence at the accused’s trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
The man, in his 50s, pleaded not guilty to a total of 12 counts of indecent assault on the girl, when she was aged between nine and 11, and he was in his late teens, on dates in the 1980s.
The offences allegedly occurred inside the woman’s home when the accused was asked to mind her when her parents were out.
The woman claimed the accused would go to her bedroom when she was asleep and “whisper” in her ear to “come downstairs”.
The girl said she would go downstairs with the accused and he would order her to undress him and demand she perform sex acts on him.
The woman told the court said she masturbated the accused and put his penis in her mouth after he ordered her to do so.
The woman told the court she has never forgotten the “dirty smell” from the accused’s genitals arising out of the first alleged sex assault.
The woman said the alleged sex abuse occurred “every time he babysat for us”.
The woman claimed the accused would also routinely take off her “nightie”, put his hands between her legs, “kiss” her, and put his hands “all over” her during the alleged abuse.
She said the accused would also masturbate himself while standing in front of her.
“I didn’t know what to do, I was frightened, I was so little,” the woman told the court.
The woman said there would be crisps, chocolate, and fizzy drinks placed out for her but that she never took any because she was “too afraid”.
The woman claimed that, following each assault, the accused would tell her not to tell anyone and told her to go back to bed.
The woman alleged the abuse began when she was around eight years of age and continued until she was 11 years old.
She said the sex abuse stopped when the accused started a relationship with a woman.
The trial continues before Judge Colin Daly and a jury of seven women and five men.