The complainant in the case against the Dublin firefighter arrest for rape over St Patrick’s Day weekend told a Boston court she woke up with a stranger “on top of me, inside of me”.
Terence Crosbie (39) is charged with assaulting an attorney in a shared hotel room while his colleague Liam O’Brien slept in the opposite bed. The attorney was 29 at the time of the alleged assault.
Mr Crosbie has denied the allegations.
The court heard that the complainant had consensual relations with Mr O’Brien at the Omni Parker Hotel after meeting him at The Black Rose bar on Thursday, March 14th, 2024, where they talked and danced.
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Mr Crosbie and Mr O’Brien had travelled to Boston with a group of more than 10 members of the fire brigade to march in the St Patrick’s Day parade that Sunday.
On Friday the complainant took the stand and told the court that when she and Mr O’Brien entered the room they immediately began kissing and undressed.
The woman, who frequently broke into tears during questioning, stated that she and Mr O’Brien had consensual vaginal sex, they did not use contraceptives, and she performed oral sex on Mr O’Brien as well. After they finished she went to the bathroom. When she returned Mr O’Brien was asleep, snoring, positioned like a “starfish spread out on the bed”.
She testified that she fell asleep in the other hotel bed and “woke up to somebody on top of me, inside of me”. She said he was holding her down by her shoulders.
She noted the man’s Irish accent, she told the court, and that he was disparaging Mr O’Brien. “You like this, he couldn’t give this to you, I’ll give this to you, he’s a loser,” he said, according to testimony.
She said she did not know the person who was assaulting her but knew he wasn’t Mr O’Brien because Mr O’Brien was “snoring quite loudly” and had hair, as “opposed to Liam who was fully bald”.
“What are you doing? Stop,” she testified she told the assailant. When he didn’t stop she was able to get her “feet on the ground and roll off of the bed”, she said.
While she was collecting her clothing, she said Mr Crosbie continued to follow her around the hotel room, pushing her against the wall and kissing her breast and chest.
She managed to get into the bathroom, locked the door and “took a moment to make a plan of escape to safety”, she said. She noted the bathroom door and exit were close. She claims Mr Crosbie attempted to engage with her again, but she was “able to scoot past him”.
She testified that she walked home, changed her clothes, and took an Uber to the hospital where she reported she had been raped.
In opening statements jurors heard that the forensic evidence collected from the complainant include two separate male DNA profiles. One of those profiles matches Mr O’Brien. The identity of the second male profile is unclear.
[ Boston rape case: The full story of Dublin firefighter Terence Crosbie’s trialOpens in new window ]
Defence attorney Daniel C Reilly noted that the complainant had a blood alcohol rate of .135% when she arrived at the hospital. The legal driving limit in Massachusetts is .08%.
“I had been drinking but I wasn’t stumbling, I walked back to my apartment,” she said.
“Is your testimony that you had been sober at that point,” Mr Reilly asked.
“I was coherent,” she said. Then, upon further questioning, admitted, “I don’t believe I was 100 per cent sober.”
Under cross examination the complainant admitted she did not know Mr O’Brien’s first or last name, or if he was married. She testified that the bathroom light was on at the time of the assault, but did not remember if the assailant had birthmarks, scars, tattoos, or precisely how tall he was.
Despite CCTV video of her interacting with Mr Crosbie at The Black Rose bar, she stated that she did not remember ever meeting Mr Crosbie.
“You don’t remember seeing Mr Crosbie?” Mr Reilly asked.
“No,” she said.
“Is it fair to say you don’t remember a lot of things from that night?” Mr Reilly asked.
“No,” the complainant said.
Medical experts and members of law enforcement also testified, with testimony to continue Monday.
