A 55 year old former soldier from Donegal has gone on trial charged with indecently assaulting a young boy on a number of occasions in different quarries.
Hugh ‘Jock’ McDaniel has pleaded not guilty to all five charges which are alleged to have happened at different locations in Inishowen in the summer of 1979.
McDaniel, of 40 Abbotswood, Carndonagh denies all five charges of indecent assault against the other man who was considerably younger.
McDaniel, who appeared in court wearing grey trousers and a blue and white t-shirt, was 22 at the time of the alleged assaults.
The accused and his alleged victim had met in an amusement arcade where pool and video games were played.
The alleged victim, who cannot be named, said McDaniel would bring him away for drives in his blue Hillman Avenger car.
On a number of occasions McDaniel forced him to masturbate eachother and on one occasion he forced him to have oral sex.
On one occasion McDaniel brought the boy to a house and after they watched a pornographic video, they masturbated eachother.
“My mind was being pulled everywhere. I was confused and I said that it was not right. I got up and left,” said the alleged victim.
The man said he remembers a lot of details of what happened in the summer of 1979 and the surroundings because he has lived with it since he was allegedly abused.
He recalled the car in which he was abused having fluffy seats and a furry dice and the house in which he was allegedly abused.
McDaniel is alleged to have told his victim not to speak about the events and that he would do the same.
The victim said he remembered McDaniel as a tall man with a beard and dark glasses who had poor eyesight.
He said he had heard a story locally about how McDaniel had left the army after an accident during which he was shot.
He said he was embarrassed by the alleged incidents and only told his wife because he wanted to be honest with her about his entire life before they married.
However the alleged victim said it was only in later life after watching other people speaking about their experiences of sexual abuse that he decided to contact Gardai.
The trial before Judge John O’Hagan continues today at Letterkenny Circuit Court.
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