A YOUNG woman who claims she was raped by a Scarborough man broke down in tears during a court hearing and said it had led her to contemplate suicide.
Carl David Ireland, 43, of Scalby Road, has denied three charges of rape and four charges of sexual assault involving two teenagers.
York Crown Court has heard how the claims came to light after he allegedly sexually touched a 16-year-old under he
r pyjamas in November last year.
The girl, who had been away from home for the night, told her family about what had allegedly happened.
Later, an older girl said she herself had been repeatedly abused by Ireland over several months when she was 15.
Robin Denny, prosecuting, said the older girl had been abused on an almost weekly basis, starting as sexual assault.
The jury heard that the three charges of rape and three of sexual assault involving the older girl were specimen offences of the course of conduct allegedly carried out by Ireland.
Mr Denney said the girl’s mother and other members of the family had noticed a change in her behaviour around the time the offences were said to have taken place, but they had put it down to a teenage girl growing up.
However, when the girls both related their stories in November, the police were contacted and Ireland was arrested.
When questioned, the defendant – himself a father of three – denied any involvement in sexual abuse of either of the girls.
The older girl told York Crown Court: “I considered taking my own life because of troubles over what had happened and keeping it all to myself.
“He’s destroyed my life.
“I just want him to stay away because he’s wrecked my life.” The woman told the court the offences committed against her started about three months after her 15th birthday, but developed into intercourse a few weeks later.
An act of rape, she said, took place shortly before her 16th birthday.
She broke down in tears during cross-examination when Taryn Turner, defending, suggested the offences did not happen at all.
The girl, speaking via a video-link, told the jury the alleged offences took place when she was alone after her mother started working night shifts and ended when she moved to a day job.
Ireland has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault on the younger girl who was 15 at the time of the alleged offence.
The trial continues.
The full article contains 420 words and appears in Scarborough Evening News newspaper.
