Man (23) appears in court facing 20 charges including rape, assault, and false imprisonment

A 23-YEAR-OLD CO CLARE man has appeared in court charged with the rape, assault causing harm, false imprisonment, coercive control and threatening to kill or cause serious harm to a female who was aged under 18 at the time.

At Ennis District Court, the man appeared in connection with 20 alleged offences against the girl on dates from 1 January 2020 to May 2021 at different addresses in Ennis.

The man – who aged between 17 and 19 at the time of the alleged offences – is facing four counts of rape against the girl on various dates at an Ennis address between 1 January 2020 and 30 April 2021.

There was no garda objection to conditional bail for the accused and the man’s wife – who was in court – provided an independent €1,000 surety as part of his bail conditions

The other charges the man is facing also include one ‘Coco’s Law’ prosecution concerning the distribution of intimate images without a person’s consent.

In that charge, the man is accused of on dates between 1 May 2021 and 30 June 2021 did distribute or publish an intimate image of the female without her consent and with intent to cause harm to her contrary to Section 2(1) and (3) of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.

The man is also charged with on 12 May 2021 having in his possession child pornography, as it is known in law, that were videos of the girl engaging in sexual acts with a male, contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.

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The man is also facing a coercive control charge under Domestic Violence legislation where he is charged with between 1 October 2019 and 5 May 2021 at an Ennis address of persistently engaging in behaviour that was controlling or coercive and which had a serious effect on the girl who was in an intimate relationship with the accused, contrary to Section 39 (1) and (3) of the Domestic Violence Act 2018.

The man is also charged with the false imprisonment of the female at an Ennis address between 30 April 2021 and 1 May 2021 contrary to Section 15 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act

The man is also facing 11 counts of assault causing harm at different Ennis addresses across various dates from 1 January 2020 and 1 May 2021. One of the alleged assaults took place in a shower at a residential address in Ennis.

The man is also charged with between 30 April 2021 and 5 May 2021 of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to the girl contrary to Section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

In evidence, prosecuting Garda, Det Garda Niamh O’Malley of the Clare Division Protective Services Unit (PSU) said that the accused made no reply after charge and caution.

Sgt Frank O’Grady said that the DPP instructions are for the case to go forward to the Central Criminal Court on indictment.

Det Garda O’Malley said that the accused should be reminded of one of the bail conditions where he is to have no direct or indirect contact with the injured party.

Judge Adrian Harris warned the man that “there is absolutely to be no contact” with the alleged injured party. Judge Harris granted legal aid to solicitor, Tara Godfrey to represent the accused.

The judge remanded the accused on bail to appear again before Ennis District Court on 22 July for a Book of Evidence to be served in the case to allow the case go forward to the Central Criminal Court.