A teenager will appear at the Central Criminal Court accused of sexually abusing a boy aged around nine in Dublin over a two-year period, reports Breaking News.
The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Dublin Children’s Court on 10 charges: one count of sexual assault, three counts of aggravated sexual assault and six counts of oral or anal rape, reports Breaking News.
The offences allegedly occurred between 2019 and 2021.
Gardaí launched an investigation after a witness claimed to have seen the accused with the victim and informed his mother.
Judge Brendan Tolle noted that all charges, except those of sexual assault, would automatically be transferred to the Central Criminal Court.
However, the boy had the right to ask the Juvenile Court to accept jurisdiction and initiate a separate trial on the sexual abuse charges.
The judge heard an outline of the evidence confirming the crime he was charged with.
Detective Garda Olivia Jones said that one day in late 2021 a witness told police he saw the defendant, then aged 15, and a younger boy behind a wall.
He told gardaí he saw the complainant sitting on a chair with his trousers down, facing the wall, reports Breaking News.
They left but the witness followed them and reported this to the child’s mother and gardaí interviewed.
The court heard the younger boy allegedly told police the teenager “put his willy in my hand” during the incident.
The clothes of the accused have been forensically examined.
When questioned by gardaí the accused claimed that the child’s trousers had fallen down and denied this.
The judge did not hear evidence on the remaining charges, but the detective described the sexual assault as “interconnected with the other incidents”.
The accused have no previous convictions, reports Breaking News.
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