Four youths have been charged with a string offences relating to the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl which was captured on video in February last year.
The youths appeared in court, charged with a string of offences, including rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault and possession of child pornography involving the teenage girl in Dublin last year.
This comes after they were arrested at their homes on Monday morning over the incident. Their arrest was authorised by the Director of Public Prosecutions, and they were brought before Judge Brendan Toale at Dublin's Children Court.
Two of the youths, teenage boys aged 15 and 16, have been accused of rape and sexual assault in south Dublin in February 2025. The other two youths, who are both aged 16, were brought up on several charges, one being accused of attempted sexual assault of the girl on the same date, while the other was charged in possession of child pornography, an alleged one video thumbnail on a mobile device from the same date.
None of the youths were represented in court, a direct knock on effect from the escalation of the ongoing dispute between solicitors and Justice Minister, Jim O'Callaghan. They are eligible for legal aid.
Three of the teenagers told the court that they could name solicitors, but they were unable to call on their services due to this dispute, while the other youth could not name a legal professional that he had previous dealings with.
On youth had asked the court "May I say. How long until this case is over?", to which the judge replied that it was not yet known, with the court hearing that their cases could face delay.
The youth was charged with have a thumbnail image on an unspecified device while he was at his home. It was also claimed that this offence had happened "simultaneously" with the other charges, despite being at different locations. A fifth youth, who is not related to the others, has yet to be charged.
Solicitor for the State, Fergal Mawe said in court that the DPP has authorised a trial on indictment in the Central Criminal Court, which is the mandatory venue in rape cases, but the judge must hold a preliminary hearing to determine if the other charges will be severed and remain in the Children's Court.
The proceedings do fall under the juvenile protocol, requiring greater expediency in handling the trial as the defendants are still minors.
Under section 75 of the Children's Act, the juvenile court can accept jurisdiction in several types of serious cases, considering the defendant's age, and level of maturity. The judge had to explain this procedure to the youths due to the ongoing industrial strike.
The four youths and family members were granted bail with conditions sought by Gardaí. The judge confirmed to one of the youths' mothers that her son was still allowed to go to school and travel into the city centre, as he explained the conditions to the youths.
These conditions include that they must stay at their stated addresses, inform Gardaí of any changes, provide a contact phone number to them, as well as be contactable on their phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This phone must also be charged and have credit at all times, and the youths must answer if a Garda calls. They are also required to surrender passports and travel documents within 24 hours.
The judge also stated that they must not contact the victim, other witness or co defendants involved, including direct or in-direct contact, using someone else on their behalf or electronic means or social media.
A plea has yet to be entered by any of the youths accused, with the judge noting that when charged, they "made no reply".
The court also heard how one teen's identity cards were issued in an eastern European country.
The judge added that they youths must seek legal advice on this matter, and warned that they risked bail conditions being revoked and being kept in custody until the proceedings concluded.
The case will resume in next month.
