Boy (15) accused of sleepover rape and assault faces Central Criminal Court trial

A 15-year-old Dublin boy has been sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court accused of a young girl's rape and sexual assault during a sleepover.

The boy, who cannot be identified because he is a minor, appeared at the Dublin Children’s Court.

Gardaí charged him with two sexual offences at his home last year.

He was aged 14 at the time.

Judge Brendan Toale noted on Friday that the Director of Public Prosecutions consented to trial on indictment.

He granted the order sending the boy forward to the Central Criminal Court.

He warned the teenager he must notify the prosecution if he intended to use an alibi and explained what that meant.

Following a request from defence solicitor Brian Keenan, the judge granted legal aid to include representation of senior counsel.

Warned

The boy, accompanied to court by his mother, remained silent during the hearing.

The judge warned that as a condition of bail, he could not contact the complainant by any means, including social media.

In an outline of the evidence, Garda Kathy Byrne told the judge earlier that the girl, then aged 13, had been on a sleepover with her friend at the boy's house.

The girl was in her friend’s room when the boy entered, but she told him to get out.

The teenager allegedly got on top of her and made some vulgar remark. It was claimed she refused and warned him she would tell his parents.

The garda alleged the boy then put one hand on her throat and one hand on the bed “as he tried to choke her”.

The rape allegedly happened minutes later.

The boy was arrested several months later and questioned in the presence of his mother. He denied the allegations, the judge heard.