A 53-year-old man yesterday denied raping a 16-year-old girl in her house moments before her parents came home.
The man described as "silly" the evidence given in Central Criminal Court by the girl's parents that he looked "flustered" and "red-faced" when they came into the house.
He said the girl's father would have "gone through" him if he suspected any wrongdoing.
The man has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of indecent assault, three of forced oral sex, three of having unlawful carnal knowledge when the girl was under 15 years old, and another of unlawful carnal knowledge on February 9th, 1997, when she was aged between 15 and 17.
He said his underwear had been pulled down by a garda when he was arrested. The garda, who knew the girl, had also sneered at him during interrogation.
He also denied being "a predatory sexual abuser" who had sought opportunities to be alone with the girl.
Earlier, the accused told the jury that on February 9th, 1997, he had called to the alleged victim's house to talk to her father. He said nobody else was home so he spoke to the girl for a moment.
He then went to the toilet in the house, and when he returned to the kitchen he met the girl's parents and her brother as they came in the door, the court heard.
He had a cup of tea with the girl's parents for about 15 minutes and they showed no sign of unease, he said. He denied sexually abusing the girl in his home, in her family home, in his van or his boat.
The accused's wife told the court she rarely left her home because of an illness and had never seen her husband act improperly with the alleged victim.
She said her husband was never alone with the girl in his van or in his boat.