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06th Aug 2021

5 members of same family convicted on charges including rape and exploitation of three children

They will appear in court in October for sentencing.

Five adult members of the same family have been convicted on a number of charges including rape, sexual assault and exploitation of three children, RTÉ reports.

The convicted family members include the children’s parents, two of their uncles and one aunt. They cannot be named due to legal reasons.

Additionally, the parents have been charged with the willful neglect of five of their children.

The offences occurred in Munster between 2014 and 2016.

The children’s father was convicted on 31 accounts, which included rape and sexual assault of three of his children. He was also convicted for allowing others to sexually assault them, as well as sexual exploitation and neglect.

The children’s mother was convicted on 31 charges, including sexual assault and allowing others to sexually assault her children. Like the father, she was found guilty of sexual exploitation and neglect.

The uncle was found guilty of 10 counts, which included the rape of his niece, sexually assaulting two of her brothers, and sexual exploitation.

The uncle’s wife was convicted of three charges of sexual assault.

Finally, another uncle was convicted on nine charges including rape and sexual assault.

All five adults remain in custody. Their court date for sentencing is 4 October.

Following on from the 10 week-trial, the jury returned 77 of 78 charges. They were unanimous across 42 of the verdicts. The remainder were majority verdicts.

Two of the children provided testimony during the trial via videos, which were recorded in 2017. The children were aged nine and eight when they gave their testimonies.

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