A 64-year-old Cavan man who faces 32 charges which include rape, unlawful carnal knowledge, buggery and sexual assault of schoolchildren aged between eight and 14 has been refused bail in the High Court.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan was told that the man, a father of eight children, had denied the charges and was unlikely to get a trial before the end of this year.
Garda Insp John O'Hara told Ms Pauline Walley, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that the alleged offences came to light during 1996 and 1997 when a number of national school girls were discovered to be regularly missing school.
He said the school authorities had become worried when they checked with the children's parents who believed their children had been attending school. During the course of a Garda investigation a visit had been made to the man's home, where he lived alone.
Insp O'Hara said there would be evidence that the man had provided the girls who wanted to miss school with a place to hide. "He had given them sweets, cigarettes, £5 notes and £10 notes, and over a period of time he had reached a stage of carrying out his dastardly acts," Insp O'Hara said.
He said the Garda investigation began in September 1997 and that the man had complained he had been assaulted by a relative of one of the victims, but refused to make the complaint in writing. He had told gardai that the complaints made against him by the girls were fictitious, but gardai had found a consistency among the stories of all of the 17 girls.
Insp O'Hara said some of the younger girls had been among the worst abused and were now receiving counselling, with their parents and other members of their families.
He said gardai had monitored the accused man's movements and in October last found him with £1,095 which he had withdrawn from his credit union. All his clothing and personal effects had been removed from his home and the television had been returned to a rental company.
"His son was home on holiday from England and was due to go back the next day. I believe he planned to leave the country with him and that if given bail he will not appear for his trial."
He agreed with Mr Brendan Mulhall, counsel for the accused man, that no admission of guilt had been made in any of the cases and that he had at the time been free to go to England if he wanted to as he had not then been questioned or charged.
Mr Mulhall said his client was agreeable to reside with a brother who lived about 10 miles from Cavan, if he were granted bail.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan said he was satisfied that it had been established that if granted bail the accused would not turn up for his trial. He granted him liberty to reapply for bail in March should he not by then have been allocated an early trial date.