Family friend sued over alleged childhood sexual assault

A man who alleges that when a child he was sexually assaulted by a male family friend has sued for damages.

In evidence to the High Court, the man (now 22) said he was aged between seven and nine at the time of the alleged abuse. His mother told the court her son's childhood had been taken from him.

Opening the case, Aidan Doyle SC, for the plaintiff, said his client was seeking damages for sexual assault alleged to have occurred between May 2002 and January 2004.

It is alleged the defendant touched the boy on the legs and genitals as he brought him on trips in his car and the alleged abuse came to light when the boy, then aged about nine, told a woman who was friendly with his family.

The now 65-year-old defendant denies the claims and pleads in a counter claim the plaintiff was told by his mother to tell lies.

The defendant also claims the allegations only came to light after he himself won damages as a result of injuries received in a traffic accident.

On holidays

In evidence, the plaintiff said, when he went on holidays to the man’s house, he used to travel in his car on runs to the shop and on business deliveries around the southeast of the country.

The man brought him on numerous trips and would first touch his leg and then his genitals, he said. On one such delivery, the man touched his leg and genitals before they were pulled over by a Garda car for a speeding offence, he said.

He also said he was sexually assaulted in the sitting room of the man’s house when the plaintiff’s grandmother, who also lived there, had gone to bed. The abuse stopped when he was aged about nine, he said.

“I said I would tell my mother. He said, if I told her, my mother would send me away,” he said. “I was afraid, I was only a child.”

He said he missed out on a a lot of school afterwards and had to go to counselling

Cross-examined by the defendant, representing himself, the plaintiff said it was a lie to suggest he was told to make up the story by his mother or had been “coached” in relation to the allegations.

The case continues on Thursday.