Man (23) questioned about rape of woman in her 70s in Kerry

Gardaí are questioning a 23-year-old man about the rape of a woman in her 70s in her home near Sneem in Co Kerry earlier this year.

Detectives arrested the man in the Sneem area at around 8am on Saturday December 13th for questioning about the attack on the woman on the night of September 20th.

The man was arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows for detention for up 24 hours. He was taken to Killarney Garda station for questioning.

The sexual attack happened between 5.30am and 8am when a man entered the isolated house several miles from Sneem where the woman lived alone.

The woman raised the alarm and was brought to the sexual assault examination unit at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork.

Gardaí sealed off the woman’s home and did a forensic examination of the house and the room where the attack happened in the hope of identifying the culprit.

Officers also carried out door-to-door inquiries as they appealed to the public in the Sneem area for their help in catching the person responsible.

The crime shocked the local community and the chairman of Castlecove-Sneem Community Association, Tadhg McCarthy, urged anyone with information to contact gardaí.

He said the entire community was “shocked, saddened and disgusted”.