A Dublin man has been found guilty of raping a nine-year-old girl twice on a beach and orally raping her in a house 16 years ago.
Stephen (Rossi) Walsh (62) of Belgrave Road, Rathgar, previously of the Pearse Street area of Dublin, had refused enter a plea to charges of two counts of rape, one count of oral rape and one count of sexual assault on dates between January 1st and November 9th, 1993. Pleas of not guilty had been entered by the court on his behalf.
The jury took almost seven hours to reach the verdict on the fourth day of the trial. It acquitted Walsh on one count of sexual assault.
Mr Justice Paul Carney declared Walsh a sex offender and ordered a victim impact report for the sentence hearing.
Mr Justice Carney remanded Walsh in custody and adjourned sentencing to next February. He thanked the jurors for their service and excused them from jury duty for life. The now 25-year-old victim confirmed that she consented to him being named in media reports.
Inspector Colm O’Malley was called to give evidence of Walsh’s character and previous convictions because Mr Justice Carney said he wanted the jury to know “who they had been dealing with and what had been kept from then”.
Insp O’Malley confirmed that Walsh had 13 previous convictions including a lengthy prison sentence in relation to an arson case, which Mr Justice Carney confirmed had been dealt with in the Special Criminal Court in the early 1990s. He did not have an official record of convictions in court and the judge confirmed that Walsh’s full record would be outlined in detail at the sentence hearing.
Walsh also had a number of convictions for minor road traffic offences that had been dealt with in the District Court.
It was the last criminal trial to be heard in the Four Courts complex and all new Dublin cases will be dealt with in the new Criminal Courts of Justice building in January.