17 victims of serious sexual offences in March of whom 12 victims were under the age of 18 years - DPP

Worrying statistics continue to emerge as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions confirms that there were 17 victims of serious sexual offences in March of whom 12 victims were under the age of 18 years.

18 people have been charged with a total of 35 counts of separate incidents of serious sexual offences last month.

The Office of the DPP says there were 22 cases of rape, 1 case of attempted rape, 1 case of assault with intent to commit rape, 1 case of aiding and abetting rape, 3 cases of indecent assault and 7 sexual assault cases.

Of the 18 people charged, one was a juvenile and one was a police officer.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the rape of a 12-year-old girl, however this matter was discontinued due to insufficient evidence. A 54-year-old police officer was charged with the rape, attempted rape and indecent assault of a 34-year-old woman.

There were eight incidents where the victims and the accused were related to one another.

A 54-year-old man was charged with the rape and sexual assault of his 5-year-old granddaughter.

There were four separate incidents where uncles were charged with the rape and sexual assault of their nieces. In one incident, a 19-year-old man was charged with the rape, sexual assault and indecent assault of his 5-year-old niece while a 27-year-old man was charged with representative counts of rape and sexual assault against his 14-year-old niece which was allegedly committed from 2012 to 2017.

A 26-year-old man has been charged with the rape and sexual assault of his 14-year-old niece while a 59-year-old man was charged with the sexual assault of his 15-year-old niece.

In another incident, a 45-year-old man was charged with representative counts of rape and sexual assault against his 18-year-old stepniece.

The DPP’s Office says there was one incident of marital rape where a 38-year-old man was charged with the rape and assault with intent to commit rape of his 32-year-old wife, however, this matter was discontinued due to the inability to locate the victim.

A 25-year-old man has been charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl from his village. The victim’s 19-year-old uncle was also charged with aiding and abetting rape.

The DPP’s says a 61-year-old man was charged with indecent assault and indecently annoying his 31-year-old employee.

A 50-year-old man was charged with the rape and assault of a 27-year-old woman.

A 26-year-old man was charged with the rape of a 42-year-old woman. The accused allegedly accosted the victim whilst she was walking home.