A woman who alleges she was raped by her father when she was 11 years old was psychologically unable to report the abuse for many years because she was terrified of her father and wanted to protect her mother and siblings, the High Court was told yesterday.
Dr Ann Leader, a clinical psychiatrist, said she believed the woman, now in her 40s, only became psychologically able to report the alleged abuse when she contracted a potentially terminal illness in the late 1990s and underwent life-threatening surgery.
It was the woman's anger at the possible ending of her life when she became ill that gave her the courage and determination that, regardless of her fear of the appalling consequences that could accompany disclosure, which consequences came to pass through her family being split apart, she owed it to herself to report the alleged abuse, Dr Leader said.
She agreed she had not interviewed members of the woman's family regarding the alleged abuse. She said she was a psychiatrist, not a judge or investigator. Her task was to assess the woman's credibility and determine whether or not there were psychological factors inhibiting disclosure of the abuse. She disagreed with criticism from Prof Patricia Casey, a clinical psychiatrist, of her approach to interviewing the woman and said she stood over her findings.
Dr Leader said she had interviewed more than 400 persons who alleged they had been sexually abused. In many such cases, the decision to disclose the alleged abuse was triggered by a significant event. In the woman's case, the triggering event was her life-threatening illness.
Yesterday was the second day of a hearing before Mr Justice Gilligan of an application by the woman's father to stop his trial on four counts of raping his daughter between January 1st and December 31st, 1972, and further charges of indecently assaulting her on dates from 1968 to 1973.
The man denies the allegations and pleads his right to a fair trial has been seriously prejudiced by the delay in making the complaints.
The alleged offences date back to 1968 when the daughter was aged seven and are alleged to have continued to 1975 when the woman claims she left home to work. The woman reported the alleged abuse to gardaí in 1999.
She says she made the report after contracting a serious illness and undergoing a self-development course. The man was charged with the alleged offences in 2000. His trial has been adjourned pending the outcome of his High Court proceedings.
The woman claims she became pregnant at about 11 years old after being raped by her father and had a miscarriage in the family home. She claims her mother was present when she miscarried and told her: "This is what happens when you let your daddy at you."
She claims she didn't report the alleged abuse to gardaí until 1999 because her father beat her mother and brothers and she believed there would be trouble at home if she didn't do what her father wanted. She says her mother knew about the abuse and she had also told an aunt, her father's sister, about it when she was about 14.
The court has heard the woman's claims of abuse were denied in interviews by her mother with gardaí. The aunt to whom she made the alleged disclosure has also denied that any such disclosure was made.
The man claims that his right to a fair trial is particularly prejudiced because the doctor who was allegedly present when the girl was miscarrying had died and could not give evidence. Nor were his medical records available.
