Latest news with #complainant
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Irish Times
‘He was in a position of power': Student tells inquiry she realised later that ‘sexual relationship' with teacher made her vulnerable
A Teaching Council inquiry panel has retired to consider allegations of a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student. The complainant has told the Teaching Council that when she was an 18-year-old student a teacher at her school had sexual encounters with her on four to six occasions between March and June 2018. She also alleges she and the teacher sent communications to each other on Snapchat, the social media app, many of which were of a sexually explicit nature, including photos of a penis and nude photos of the complainant. The teacher was not present at the proceedings on Tuesday. READ MORE At the inquiry the complainant gave evidence about six videos that were played to the panel at the inquiry and were recorded by a trusted university friend of the complainant in March 2022 on the friend's phone. The complainant said she began seeing matters from an adult perspective during her first year in college. It was then she came to believe the teacher's conduct breached ethical standards. 'It was quite difficult to recognise that I was in a vulnerable situation. I have a lot of guilt. [The teacher] was in a position of power. He was trained. He could have dealt with the situation differently,' she said. She said she was attending counselling over the interactions and was now scared of seeing the teacher. The complainant further gave evidence that the teacher also followed her on Instagram and 'liked' her posts between 2020 and 2022. She also said a girl in her year in the school sent her a picture from March 2017 of a Tinder profile under the name 'Muinteoir', which the complainant alleges was that of the teacher. She claims it shows both parties had 'matched' with each other. After hearing legal advice, the panel has retired to consider the claims and whether, if proven, these amount to a finding of professional misconduct and/or a breach of the Code of Conduct for Teachers.
BreakingNews.ie
6 days ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (37) who sexually assaulted friend as she slept jailed for over two years
A man who sexually assaulted a friend while she was sleeping has been jailed for two and a half years. The 37-year-old pleaded guilty on a trial date to sexual assault on a date in September 2019 at an address in Co Dublin. Advertisement He can't be named to protect the anonymity of the complainant. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the woman was socialising and drinking with friends, including the man, the night before this incident occurred. The following morning, the man was asleep on one sofa in the living room. The complainant went to sleep on another sofa in the room about an hour later. She woke up 30 minutes later to the man kneeling beside her and sexually assaulting her. An investigating garda told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that the woman noticed he had unbuttoned her jeans without waking her. He asked her 'did you want me to fuck you?' Advertisement She replied: 'Get away from me.' He buttoned her jeans back up then went to the bathroom. The woman left the apartment. She later told gardaí that she had not consented to any sexual contact with the man. The court heard that the man was co-operative when interviewed by gardaí and accepted the woman's account of what had happened. Advertisement He has no previous convictions. A victim impact statement was handed to the court and not read aloud. An investigating garda agreed with Kathleen Leader SC, defending, that the man was forthcoming during interview and told gardai he didn't have consent. Ms Leader told the court her client had moved to the jurisdiction in the mid 2010s to study. He has a good work history and supports his son, who lives aboard with family members. Advertisement A letter of apology and work references were handed to the court. The man got into the witness box and said he tries his best to avoid drinking in public and at parties. He said he had gone through websites to learn more about consent. The man said he was 'really sorry' and has 'lived to regret that day'. He said he was 'very sorry' for what he did to the woman and wished he could apologise to her. He said he wished for a chance to take back what he did, but this was not possible and all he could do was apologise. Advertisement Judge Elma Sheahan asked why the man took a trial date if he accepted responsibility at the garda station. Ms Leader said it may have taken time for her client to come to terms with the process. Her client has accepted responsibility and has matured since then, she said. She asked the court to take into account her client's previous good record and that he stopped his behaviour on the night in question once the woman told him it was unacceptable. Ireland Mother (54) should never have been convicted of se... Read More Counsel asked the court to consider a non-custodial sanction. Imposing sentence on Monday, Judge Sheahan said the seriousness of the offending and the circumstances in which it took place, including that the woman was asleep, were aggravating. She noted the mitigation, the man's personal circumstances and the effect of custody for a first-time offender. The judge said the custodial threshold had been passed and handed the man a three year sentence, with the final six months suspended on strict conditions.
CTV News
12-07-2025
- CTV News
Sexual assault trial against former Windsor staff sergeant wrapping up soon
Final submissions were presented in the sex assault trial of Windsor police Staff Sgt Ken Price. A Windsor police officer facing four counts of sexual assault is one step closer to a verdict. Final submissions were presented in provincial court Friday. The officer, who has been on paid leave throughout the trial, now awaits the judge's decision in the coming days. The special investigations unit laid charges against Staff Sgt. Ken Price including four counts of sexual assault against a former female auxiliary force member who cannot be named due to a publication ban. He is accused of a number of alleged incidents including sniffing her hair, grabbing her behind, pressing his body against hers, and dry humping her during a training exercise between 2011 and 2015. According to the complainant, all of the occurrences were unwanted and misappropriate behavior. The defence re-iterating Friday, Price denies any wrongdoing, and that this case is based on credibility, reliability, and accuracy, which he said the complainant did not show, saying she gave unreliable evidence in 'totality.' But the crown disagrees, saying the complaints' evidence is consistent, unshaken, and detailed. The Crown reminded the court the complainant started volunteering at the department in 2009 and left in 2015 due to the trauma she experienced from interacting with Price and her fear of running into him again. He ended his submission by referencing a case that states, 'Myths and stereotypes against sexual assault victims are still common.' Judgement is expected next Wednesday.
Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Irish Times
‘He wanted to have sex': Fitness to teach inquiry hears allegations teacher drove student to driveway of old factory
A fitness-to-teach inquiry has heard testimony from a former Leaving Certificate student of how a teacher picked her up from her estate after school and brought her to the driveway of an old factory. 'He wanted to have sex, I wasn't sure. I remember trying to get over to the driver's side, I remember the clunkiness of it,' the witness told the inquiry on Wednesday. She has complained to the Teaching Council that while she was an 18-year-old student, a teacher at her school had sexual encounters with her on four to six occasions between March and June 2018. The complainant also alleges that she and the teacher sent communications to each other on Snapchat, the social media app, many of which were of a sexually explicit nature, including photos of a penis and nude photos of the complainant. READ MORE The teacher, who was not present, submitted that the complainant's case was a weak one which lacked detail. He submitted the case contained inconsistencies regarding dates, that the complainant had narrowed the date range on which the sexual encounters occurred on to between March and April 2018, and he noted the complainant said the sexual relationship was consensual. The teacher, who has been registered since 2016 taught in the school for five years. He is now working at another school and submitted that he has 'an exemplary record of service in both schools'. The complainant alleged that after speaking with her best friend and classmate, she found out the teacher was also sending inappropriate messages to her, messages which he had also sent to the complainant. The complainant further related how at the time of the allegations she was not in a positive mental state. She said she was drinking alcohol, had issues with food and that two years previously was hospitalised and that the teacher was aware of her mental health issues. She outlined a pattern of deleting the teacher from Snapchat and adding him again if she was struggling and as a means of coping. She felt he had a duty of care to her as a student and that he took advantage of her poor judgment. She said he encouraged her drinking and he sometimes provided her with cigarettes when he would pick her up in his car close to her home. She said while she did okay in her Leaving Certificate, her experiences that year with the teacher had an effect on her. She told how days before the exams she forwarded a letter to her best friend which outlined some details of the behaviour between herself and the teacher, but not the sexual nature of it as the teacher had convinced her not to. Neasa Bird, BL for the director of the Teaching Council, said that it is her client's contention that there is a prima-facie case of professional misconduct and a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers. The complainant, with the assistance of a trusted friend, previously submitted videos to the Teaching Council of her scrolling down through some of the Snapchat communications she had saved. The complainant also said the teacher's behaviour was manipulatory, that he had groomed her before having a sexual relationship with her. She related how the teacher provided her with a study plan when she was struggling with her mental health even though he was not one of her teachers. However, she felt this intervention was a tactic on his part to reassert him as a responsible adult, another method of gaining her trust. She related how she first came into contact with him when she obtained two lessons of additional tuition from him in August 2017, when she was 17. She said he added her, accidentally he said, on Snapchat that October. The complainant had turned 18 the previous month. She said a message from the teacher to her on Facebook, even though they were not Facebook friends, in December 2022 offering his congratulations to her on graduating from university spurred her to make her complaint to the Teaching Council. It was decided at a preliminary hearing that there would be no disclosure of the name of the school or of any information which would reveal the identity of any witnesses. The panel also ruled today that this order of anonymity would not extend to the name of the teacher. The inquiry will reconvene on Tuesday, July 15th.
BreakingNews.ie
07-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Trial of two men and woman accused of sexually abusing young girl reaches closing stages
The trial of two men and a woman accused of the rape and sexual assault of a young girl has reached its closing stages. Jurors in the Central Criminal Court trial heard closing speeches on behalf of the prosecution and the three defendants on Monday. Advertisement The complainant's mother, who is in her 50s, has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of sexual assault on dates between 2000 and 2009, and between 2012 and 2014, primarily at the family home. She also pleaded not guilty to one count of rape, in that she facilitated the rape of the complainant by her uncle. The complainant's uncle, who is in his 40s, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and one of oral rape on dates between 2003 and 2012, all at the family home. A second man, who in his 50s, has pleaded not guilty to one count of oral rape between 2008 and 2009 at the same address. The jury has heard he was a friend of the accused woman's then partner. Advertisement The three defendants cannot be named for legal reasons. Closing the case on behalf of the prosecution, senior counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor asked jurors to consider if the complainant had 'come here to tell you a pack of lies, a manufactured, fabricated account of abuse'. She continued by asking the jury to consider if the complainant told lies in her initial statement to gardaí in 2019, then maintained 'a fabricated, made up account of what happened to her' since then. Ms Lawlor submitted that the complainant was telling the truth, without 'embellishment'. Advertisement She told jurors they must decide if the fact that the complainant cannot give other details about the alleged incidents 'detracts from the core of what she told you'. She suggested what jurors heard was 'unadulterated, unembellished, consistent evidence' from the complainant who came to court 'to tell you what happened to her'. She noted the evidence that the complainant's childhood home was 'chaotic' and that the adults had issues with alcohol. Ms Lawlor suggested the complainant's mother minimised her use of alcohol during garda interviews. Advertisement She asked the jurors to consider if the complainant's mother is 'willing to misrepresent' her alcohol intake, 'what else is she misrepresenting'. In their speeches, the three defence counsel asked jurors to exercise caution due to the passage of time since these alleged incidents occurred. They also noted the absence of evidence to corroborate the allegations made by the complainant, and to consider the reliability and consistency of her evidence. Desmond Dockery SC, representing the complainant's mother, said his client was 'never in trouble in her life' and 'never expected to find herself here today'. He told jurors they 'must not conflate' alcohol abuse or other issues in the household with the separate issue of sexual misconduct. Advertisement He noted the complainant said his client sexually assaulted her for the first time when she was approximately three-and-a-half. He asked the jury to consider if anyone could reliably remember events from that age. Mr Dockery asked the jurors if they can be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt in relation to a 'bare assertion shorn of details'. Later, he suggested that the allegations made against his client cannot be 'roadtested' as the complainant cannot remember details. Referring to the allegation that his client facilitated the rape of her daughter by her brother, he told jurors that if they find the complainant's uncle guilty of rape, it does not follow that his client aided and abetted this. He told jurors they must be convinced his client was in the room and knew what was going to happen. He suggested the evidence was not there to show this. Mr Dockery said if jurors find the complainant's uncle not guilty on this rape, they must also acquit his client. Counsel suggested that his client's reaction was of shock, sadness and disappointment when interviewed by gardai He accepted that his client appeared to have minimised her consumption of alcohol when speaking to gardai, but suggested anyone who has issues with alcohol may do this. Mr Dockery told jurors that not guilty verdicts do not mean his client is innocent or the complainant 'not worthy of belief'. 'All they would mean is that this is one of those cases that is not capable of being proven to a standard beyond reasonable doubt,' he said. In his closing speech for the complainant's uncle, Michael Lynn SC submitted the key question was not whether complainant is telling lies, but whether the evidence is sufficient to convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt of his client's guilt. He noted the complainant made no allegations of a sexual nature when speaking to the gardai in 2015 about a separate matter. Counsel also referred to the complainant's counselling notes from 2016, which state she said her uncle did not sexually or physically abuse her. He noted that the counselling records from 2016 also refer to the complainant getting memories and being unsure if they are real or not. Mr Lynn pointed to a letter written by the complainant in 2019, where she referred to allegations against her mother and other males, without being able to recall the details. Mr Lynn noted that the complainant began to attend counselling with a rape crisis centre shortly after writing this letter and it 'seems from that moment on, these beliefs about [her uncle] are formed'. 'You can't convict someone on a feeling or belief that something happened,' Mr Lynn submitted, suggesting later that 'these do seem to be beliefs that are formed in 2019 onwards'. He also suggested jurors consider the different accounts of the complainant and the two female family friends in relation to the breakdown of their relationship when assessing the complainant's credibility. Damien Colgan SC, defending the second man, asked jurors to look at his client's interviews with gardai, where he refers to the complainant as a 'lady'. He suggested this indicated his client's attitude to the complainant, that she is a 'lady' and 'he would never touch a lady'. Mr Colgan asked jurors to consider the complainant's direct evidence that she was 13 when this alleged incident occurred and her acknowledgement in cross-examination that she said that she was 11 in her garda statements. He described this as a 'glaring mistake', adding there is a 'big difference' between an 11-year-old and 13-year-old. He suggested the complainant was 'caught out on her own evidence, before cross-examination'. Mr Colgan suggested the complainant had told 'mistruths', or what she referred to as 'mistakes'. 'If they are mistakes, they are serious, big mistakes,' counsel said. Ireland €60m whiskey contract dispute between firms settle... Read More Mr Colgan said the complainant agreed his client didn't threaten her to keep this alleged incident a secret and she could have told others what had happened. In relation to the complainant's evidence that his client told her 'your mother knows', Mr Colgan suggested an 11-year-old and 13-year-old would 'confront their mother', but the complainant did not do this. The trial continues befor Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and the jury. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at or visit Rape Crisis Help.
