8-year-old boy gives evidence in child cruelty and abuse trial of mother’s partner

By Isabel Hayes

An eight-year-old boy has given evidence via videolink in the trial of his mother’s partner, who is accused of child cruelty and the sexual abuse of a toddler.

The 29-year-old Dublin man has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges involving sexual abuse and reckless endangerment of a little girl, as well as child cruelty to her and her brother on dates between February and April 2018.

The girl was just under two and the boy was just under three years old at the time of the alleged offences.

The man cannot be named for legal reasons.

The jury was last week shown videos of four specialist interviews carried out by gardaí with the little boy.

The first three interviews were carried out in 2019 when he was aged four, and the fourth interview was carried out in 2020 when he was five.

In the final interview, when he was five, the boy told the interviewing garda that the accused man was a “bold daddy”.

“He didn’t tell the truth,” the little boy said. “He hurted us.” He said the accused man hurt him and his sister “every day” and laughed about it.

During the interview, the little boy drew pictures of the Incredible Hulk with the garda and discussed his favourite cartoons.

Today, Seamus Clarke SC, defending the man, briefly cross-examined the boy.

When asked if he still liked superheroes, the little boy smiled and said he did.

He told the court he is now in first class.

When asked if he remembered making the garda interviews, the boy said no.

He said he couldn’t remember the accused man hurting him and laughing about it.

“Do you remember anything (the accused man) did?” Mr Clarke said.

The boy shook his head and said no.

He also said he did not remember his mother punching him in the “cheek, belly and nose” as he stated in his garda interview when he was aged four.

The jury has heard the boy and girl no longer live with their mother.

When asked if he remembered his mother calling the gardaí after the accused man allegedly hurt him, the boy said no.

“I don’t think she did that,” he said. “I think the hospital people did.”

In relation to the little girl, the man has pleaded not guilty to seven charges.

He has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting her by penetrating her vagina with an object and to intentionally or recklessly endangering her by failing to seek medical help for injuries to her genital area.

He has further pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting her by biting her on her genital area.

The man has also pleaded not guilty to four charges of child cruelty against the girl, including failing to seek medical help for an injury to her wrist, causing bruising to her face and body, ill-treating her at a Dublin shopping centre and leaving her abandoned outside an apartment door.

In relation to the boy, the man has denied three charges of child cruelty.

He has pleaded not guilty to causing bruising to his penis, body and face, to ill-treating him at a Dublin shopping centre and to leaving him abandoned outside an apartment door along with his little sister.

The trial continues before Mr Justice David Keane and a jury.