A FATHER of four has been found guilty of raping a Waterford babysitter in a neighbour's sitting room last year.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court took almost 3 1/2 hours to convict him by 10-2. He had denied raping and sexually assaulting the 32 year old woman on October 10th last year in a Waterford housing estate.
Mr Justice Flood remanded the 36 year old man in custody for sentence on November 11th. He directed the preparation of victim impact, probation and psychiatric reports.
The woman told the jury she admitted the defendant to the house at about 11.30 p.m. to make a phone call. He had an arrangement with the householder permitting that. She described how he grabbed her from behind, groped her and then raped her after she fell off a settee and hit her head off a coffee table.
It was the first time she had experienced sexual intercourse and she screamed in pain.
In evidence, the man said he attempted consensual sex but stopped when she told him she was a virgin. He did not do anything against her will and did not harm her. He also apologised to her for stopping consensual sex when she said she was a virgin.
He said that when he claimed to gardai "nothing had happened" between them, he meant he had not used force on her.