A CO Offaly woman has alleged that a wealthy farmer had sex with her in his house several times when she was in her early teens. She told the Central Criminal Court yesterday that because she was frightened she might be pregnant, she would hit her belly with a shampoo bottle when taking a bath to kill the baby.
The 33 year old married woman told Mr Justice Geoghegan and the jury that the man was a neighbour and she had helped out on his farm during the summers.
She was giving evidence on the first day of the trial of the 63 year old man, who denies 22 charges relating to her, three of her sisters, who are now aged 39, 22 and 20, and two other women.
The charges of rape, unlawful carnal knowledge and indecent assault span the period from 1967 to 1990. When the man was arraigned he replied, "Not guilty, sir" to each charge.
In crossexamination by Mr Seamus Sorahan SC, defending, the woman denied the abuse had not taken place or that she had heard a friend or friends recount tales of using a shampoo bottle to "kill a baby".
Mr Sorahan suggested the incident as she described never happened but the woman answered: "No, it happened". She agreed she did not tell anyone about the alleged abuse until 1994.
She told Mr Erwan Mill Arden SC, prosecuting, that the accused would lure her into the house using the pretence of looking for something.
He had an adult's tricycle upstairs and he would give her permission to ride it. In a bedroom he would tell her to look out the window while he removed the bottom part of her clothing.
She said he would remove his own trousers and underpants, make her lie on the bed and have sex. Afterwards he would caution her not to tell anyone. He would buy her sweets and bring her on trips to local fairs.
The alleged victim told Mr Mill Arden that the accused also had sex with her in his barn when she was helping to stack hay. He felt her leg while pretending to teach her to drive his tractor, she claimed.
She did not like it when he had sex with her but she could not say if she told him to stop. The sex incidents took place in each of the years from 1977 to 1979, she said.
She did not tell anyone about the abuse until she broke down at a "hen party" in April 1994 during a discussion about first sexual experiences. She first told her sister in law and reported the matter to gardai 13 months after that.
Her 22 year old sister claimed the accused man also had sex with her on "numerous occasions" in the 1980s when she was helping out on the farm. She was aged about 10 to 13 at the time. The trial continues.