Teen tells court of lingering effects of rape and sexual assault – The Irish Times

A teenager who was raped and sexually abused in a forest has told a court she is considering suicide after the incident involving two teenagers, aged 15 and 17.

A Central Criminal Court jury in January found the two defendants, now aged 19 and 17, guilty on six of the eight charges they faced in connection with the July 26, 2020 incident.

The older defendant was convicted of one rape, one oral rape and two counts of sexual assault. The younger teenager was found guilty of one charge of oral rape and one charge of sexual assault.

A victim’s testimony from the girl was read at a hearing in Cork on Friday. In it, she said she developed an eating disorder and became depressed after the ordeal.

“I was suicidal and cut myself. The eating disorder was a way of slowly killing myself, which I wanted to do because I felt disgusted with what was being done to me,” she said. “I felt sick in my own body after what happened to me and I wanted to change my body so they would never look at me that way again.”

The girl said she “grew up happily, but that night changed everything”.

“I had to take prescription medication to cope. I’ve had to take over 1,000 pills and had 156 counseling sessions over the past two years.”

isolating himself

She also stated that she dropped out of school after the incident, gave up all her hobbies and isolated herself from most of her friends. “I get up during the day, starve myself, and then take Xanax and sleeping pills to knock myself out most days so I don’t have to feel what happened.”

The trial learned that the victim had been drinking wine and cider with her best friend and several others on the night of the rape and sexual assault.

She was contacted by one of the defendants who was in the area, and the girl and her friend met three boys in a clearing in a forest near their home. The case went through and the older defendant had an on-off relationship with him. The third boy stayed with the girlfriend’s girlfriend during the incident.

The girl told the trial that her leggings were pulled down and she was raped and sexually assaulted by the older defendant and sexually assaulted by the younger defendant. She recalled asking the older defendant, “Why would[the other youths]let this be done to me?”

attack continued

Conor Devally SC, prosecutors, said the youths “continued to attack” the girl even after she fell into a ditch trying to pull up her leggings.

Mark Nicholas, counsel for the older defendant, described what happened as a “somber affair” and said his client accepted the verdict. He said his client had just turned 17 at the time and the incident came at a time of great turmoil and loss in his family.

Seamus Clark SC, representing the younger defendant, dismissed a suggestion by Mr Devally that there was a degree of “maliciousness” in the defendants’ actions. He said his client now understands the damage his actions caused.

The accused have been remanded in custody and will be sentenced next March 23 in a Dublin court.