Co Antrim man to stand trial over alleged child sex attacks in 1970s
A Co Antrim man is to stand trial accused of carrying out a series of sex attacks when he was aged as young as 12, a judge has ordered.
The defendant allegedly targeted two females when they were also children during the 1970s.
Now aged 66, the man – who is not being named – appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court for a preliminary enquiry hearing on the charges against him.
He is accused of rape, six indecent assaults, and two counts of gross indecency towards a child.
The alleged offences were committed over a period between December 1972 and April 1977.
Confirming he understood the charges, the defendant declined to give any evidence at this stage.
A defence solicitor did not contest prosecution submissions that there is a prima facie case to answer.
“The defendant himself was a child when these allegations took place, he was aged between 12 and 16,” the lawyer disclosed.
Granting the Crown’s application, District Judge Natasha Fitzsimons told the accused: “You will be returned to the Crown Court on a date to be fixed.”
She released him on bail under strict orders to keep away from both complainants, but without imposing a wider prohibition on contacting anyone under 18.
Judge Fitzsimons added: “I’m being told the defendant was a child during the alleged commission of the offending as well.”