THE trial of a “jealous” lover, allegedly jilted over a text message sent to an ex partner, has heard details that the alleged victim was “sexting” messages agreeing to be a “naughty sex slave” and to be tied to a tree to have her “ass slapped” just before she claimed she was sexually assaulted.
Limerick Circuit Court heard the evidence after the accused man denied two counts of sexually assaulting a 36-year-old mother of his child during an alleged rage at her house over three years ago.
The 35-year-old accused, who was living in Clare at the time of the alleged offence, is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a woman who he had an “on-and-off relationship” with on January 26 and 27, 2013.
The alleged victim, who is the mother of two children, one of which is with the accused opened her evidence this Wednesday before a jury of six men and six women.
Prosecution counsel John O’Sullivan BL opened the case and said that the woman had been in a relationship with another man and the couple had one child before the relationship ended.
Mr O’Sullivan told the court that the alleged victim then entered in to another relationship with the accused in 2008 and in 2010, the couple had a child.
Jealousy, Mr O’Sullivan said was the main background to the case and that this fuelled the accused aggression to commit the alleged assaults.
In her evidence, the victim, told the court that she had a child with an ex-lover in 2005 but the relationship ended.
She began a relationship with the accused in 2008 and during an on off period, they had a child in 2010 but again the relationship broke down.
During a period of discussion over access to see the child, the accused and the victim struck up their relationship again and the accused moved in with the woman.
On the night of the alleged incident, the victim told the court that she and the accused had consensual sex before the accused saw a text message that was sent to her former ex-partner saying “Goodnight X”.
Enraged, the woman described how the accused man forced himself on her, demanding anal sex and slapping her on the “bum area” while repeatedly shouting “whose ass is this, whose is it…say it’s mine, say it, say it, say it”.
Emotional while giving her evidence, the victim said “he was trying to force his penis in to my anus”, before she broke down in the witness box.
Recomposing herself, the victim said that she refused and wriggled her way out but again the accused shouted and slapped her saying “you will like it, you will be begging me for more”.
“It took all my strength to stop him – I was begging him” she said before again breaking down i n the witness box.
The next day, the accused, according to the victim, confronted her with the text message and blamed her for the events of the night before.
“Look at what you have done”, the victim claimed that the accused said before he left.
In her evidence, the victim said that over the course of the following day, she thought that matters had calmed when the two were in contact via text and phone conversations.
“I felt it was my fault earlier but then I thought that he would come back and say that it would never happen again and we could put it behind us. I didn’t realise what I opened the door to that night”, she said before revealing details of the second alleged assault.
The accused returned late that night and the victim said that she had thought they were going to talk about what had happened and sort things out.
However, the trial heard that the accused allegedly said “I haven’t come her for that” and dropped his pants and underwear.
The victim said that he forced her to the ground and pushed his penis in to her face demanding that he “suck it”.
The trial heard details of another struggle and more demands from the accused who she says was seeking oral sex.
“He was angry and saying that he didn’t come there to talk and saying a whole load of vulgar things. They were derogatory and he kept saying it over and over”, she told the court.
He kept pushing his penis towards my mouth while his hands were over my head”, the woman told the jury.
During cross examination by defence counsel Lorcan Connolly BL, the woman accepted that she sent numerous sexually orientated text messages during the course of the relationship but claimed she only did this to “keep him happy”.
Details of some of the messages read out to the court included that the woman agreed to be the accused’s “naughty sex slave” and that she longed for his “shaft” in her mouth and to “choke” on it.
The woman denied that she consented to any of the sexual activity that is the subject matters of the charges claiming that she was “in love with someone who was very wrong for me”.
However, the court heard that in the aftermath of the alleged sexual assaults, the woman sent more explicit messages inviting the accused to have “outdoor sex” and including that “you can tie me to a tree and slap my ass all you want”.
When Mr Connolly put it to the alleged victim that as the couple had sex earlier on the Saturday night, any of the “robust activity” later was just a continuation of the same event, the 36-year-old denied this.
“I never agreed to any of that – he was forceful, violent and angry. I begged and pleaded for him to stop.”
Asked to explain the explicit texts, the woman said that she sent those “just because he asked me to, he got a kick out of them when we were not together. i was sos embarrassed I sent the first few in Irish she said”, but Mr Connolly put it to her that this painted a “very different picture”.
The victim said that the events had “a huge effect on my life” adding that she suffered panic attacks and months of counselling.
Mr Connolly asked why the victim sent a text to the accused saying that she “can’t wait for your hot ass”, the woman said “I didn’t want him to come in home angry”.
The trial continues before Judge Tom O’Donnell at Limerick Circuit Court.
