A CORK man denied to gardai that he had raped his young brother-in-law and added he hoped the boy would be sexually assaulted so he could see what it was like, the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday.
The boy, now aged 14, told the court he had been raped by the accused man on about 12 different occasions in 1993 in the man's house.
The defendant denied the allegation. He said the boy used to call to his home two or three times a week and very much enjoyed playing on a computer in the house.
When the allegations were first made he was "dumbfounded" and could not believe what he was hearing. The boy's claims were "false information", he told his counsel, Mr Blaise O'Carroll SC (with Mr Brendan Grehan).
The father of two has pleaded not guilty to three charges of raping the boy in a Cork town on unknown dates between June and July 1993.
Earlier, giving evidence by video-link, the alleged victim claimed the defendant would come up from behind and rape him as he knelt playing games on the computer.
The boy's mother said her daughter was married to the defendant. Her son would help to mind the couple's two children while their mother was at work. He loved playing with the computer, she said.
In the winter of 1993 her son started making excuses not to go to the defendant's house. He claimed the defendant shouted at him for no reason. However, she would persuade him to go, she told Mr Maurice Gaffney SC (with Ms Una Ni Raifeartaigh), prosecuting.
She first heard of her son's allegations through another person. When questioned, her son told her he had been interfered with.
A garda told Ms Ni Raifeartaigh that the defendant was arrested on February 12th, 1994. He denied he had sexually abused the boy.
The defendant told gardai he could not think of any reason for the boy's claims. But he said the boy told lies when he did not want to go to school.
The garda said the defendant went on to say: "I hope some day (the alleged victim) is sexually assaulted so he will see what it is like."
The trial before Mr Justice Flood and a jury continues.