Kildare resident found not guilty of two counts of sexual assault

A man who allegedly committed two counts of sexual assault on a female co-worker at a fast food restaurant in Kildare was found not guilty of the offences.

The man appeared during an in-camera (in private) court session of Naas District Court on Thursday, March 23.

Defending solicitor Tim Kennelly told Judge Desmond Zaidan that his client denied any wrongdoing.

The alleged injured party said that she was working in the restaurant on a date in 2021 when she claimed that the man slapped her hip region.

She admitted that she did not think that it was anything serious at the time, but at a later date, she alleged that the man rubbed her back at one point and also rubbed her left breast with his right hand for about two or three seconds. She further alleged that the second occasion was captured on a Snapchat video taken by her, but he asked her to delete this, and she obliged.

The woman broke down when she relayed these details to Judge Zaidan.

Her brother and sister also gave evidence at the trial that she informed them of the alleged incidents and how upset they had made her feel later.

However, Mr Kennelly took issue with her testimony when he pointed out that the exact date of the first offence was incorrect, as his client was not working on this date.

He also showed the judge a video which allegedly showed his client and the alleged injured party playfully dancing together around one hour and 35 minutes after the second alleged incident.

"No woman who had just been sexually assaulted would be dancing after it happened," Mr Kennelly said.

When the defendant (who is a foreign national) took to the stand, he tried to explain in limited English that he was merely playing with the woman, whom he considered a friend, and said that she often 'tickled' him as well at work.

He tearfully explained that he did not think he did anything wrong and was deeply upset over the allegations made against him.

He also denied ever making her delete the Snapchat video.

CCTV footage was shown to the court of the second incident by a garda, although the garda acknowledged that the alleged offence was mostly out of shot.

After seeing the clip for a second time, Judge Zaidan acknowledged that the defendant seemed to be pointing his finger in a rubbing motion, and the woman reacted to it.

The judge concluded that while he believed that the woman was honest on the stand, and stressed that he had no reason to disbelieve her, he added that the onus is on the State to prove the charges 'beyond a reasonable doubt.'

However, he said that while there didn’t seem to be any overtly sexual connotations to the man’s movements, he did question why a more senior worker such as him would engage in 'horseplay' with a younger, junior, female employee.

He also asked Mr Kennelly to talk to his client about appropriate behaviour in the workplace.