A MAN AGED in his 50s has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl 20 years ago at a community organisation where the older man was employed.

The man was faced with a further five charges of sexually assaulting the girl when she was aged 15 and 16 in the mid-2000s, but the jury could not come to a verdict on any of those charges.

The jury of eight men and four women had deliberated since Wednesday and returned a verdict yesterday evening at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court.

It had been outlined to the jury that the teenager was involved in the community organisation at a location in the south of the country.

The accused man was found guilty of having slapped or groped the girl on her bottom when she was 16-years-old as she was getting out of a car on a date in 2005 in the south of the country.

Addressing the jury yesterday evening, Judge Eugene O’Kelly said that the Director of Public Prosecutions will be contacted by the court for further instructions.

Sentencing has yet to take place for the man, with the case scheduled for mention next Friday, 19 December.

The judge has ordered strict reporting restrictions to prevent identifying the complainant and the accused.

During the trial, the Circuit Criminal Court heard that the allegations took place on a series of unknown dates during 2004 and 2005 when the then-teenager was involved in the community organisation where the man was employed.

The man had strongly denied all charges.

Counsel for the accused man had argued that there had been a “distortion of dates” and “shifting timelines” in the complainant’s accounts of the different alleged incidents.

The defence’s case was that the man did have a relationship with the complainant, but only when she turned 17. The man was aged in his late 30s at the time.

It was heard in court that this was allowed by the community organisation if they deemed the younger partner was “not vulnerable” and was not “receiving favourable treatment”, such as gifts.

The complainant – now in her mid 30s – accepted that there was a relationship after reaching her adult years but alleged that the man had originally started “grooming” her when she was 14.

Allegations outlined to jury

The jury heard that the first alleged incident was said to have happened during July or August in 2004 when the man allegedly assaulted the girl while they were travelling together in a car.

Four more assaults were alleged to have taken place later at different locations, culminating in an assault of the teenager at the man’s home.

The final charge was the one the man was found guilty of, where the jury agreed that the complainant that the man had groped her as she was getting out of a car.

Summing up

When summing up the case, prosecution for the State Eoghan Cole had urged the jury not to “look away” or accept the “warped version” of events allegedly presented by the accused.

The senior counsel alleged that the accused man had shown a “brazen” attitude in his treatment of the girl, often “grabbing her in full view” of others “with no consequence” in the months prior to the alleged assaults.

“It is a myth that a victim of sexual assault would protest, it doesn’t happen like that. They find themselves unable to react,” Cole added.

In response, defence counsel David Bulbulia told the jury that they “might have a perfectly understandable dislike” of a man who “admits sexual activity with 17-year-olds” much younger than him.

However, Bulbulia urged them to look at the “hard facts” of the case and consider witness evidence that had disputed the complainant’s version of events.

Even if they felt they were “really impressed by that young woman” in her testimony, the senior counsel told the jury that was “not enough” as there had to be no element of doubt in their verdict.