THE GARDA investigation into the alleged rape of a 15-year-old schoolgirl by a 14-year-old boy at a south Dublin nightclub is likely to be a lengthy one and involve a large number of witness interviews, Garda sources have said.
The alleged victim and the suspect have been interviewed by gardaí since the alleged rape on Thursday night.
Staff at the Tramco nightclub in Rathmines, where the alleged incident took place, and a large number of other young revellers will also have to be interviewed.
Gardaí said some of the friends of the boy and girl have been identified and will be interviewed in coming days. The same sources said that given the young ages of tyhe people converned, the case must be treated with absolute sensitivity.
“Anybody who is under age that we speak to will have their parents present at the time,” said one source.
The teenagers who were in the male toilets when the alleged victim’s screams were heard coming from the cubicle, and the security staff who dealt with the immediate aftermath of the alleged incident, may offer important testimony.
The boy and girl will most likely be reinterviewed by gardaí a number of times.
Up to 300 young teenage revellers at the alcohol-free event were prevented from leaving for more than 30 minutes after the disco was ended early because gardaí wanted to identify potential witnesses and take contact details before those witnesses left.
The toilet where the alleged incident took place was sealed off. It was examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
CCTV from inside and outside the venue will also be closely reviewed.
A Tramco staff member , who spoke to The Irish Timesyesterday, referred questions to the promoters of the alcohol-free Junior Cert night, the Signature Group, Dublin 4. Efforts to contact the Signature Group yesterday were not successful.
Gardaí are working on the theory that the alleged victim went into the toilets with the suspect at about 11pm and went into a cubicle. Gardaí will have to establish if there was sexual contact between the boy and girl and, if so, how far that went and if it was consensual.
The girl was taken to the sexual assault unit in the Rotunda Hospital in the north inner city where she was examined by a medical team specially trained to identify physical signs of forced sex.
The results of those examinations are confidential unless and until such time that an investigation results in a prosecution. If and when a case reaches the courts the results of those medical tests would be used to help prove or disprove any criminal charges.
Garda sources said while the allegation made by the girl is one of rape, some cases can result in lesser charges. If, for example, a suspect exposed himself in a non-consensual context, that could result in sexual assault charges.
However, the sources stressed that a very thorough investigation was needed before it was decided if the suspect had a case to answer. Allegations of rape involving young teenagers are very rare.
