January 2014
Jury finds man committed dungeon abuse
A 35-YEAR-OLD man sexually abused a young girl “in a dungeon” at Lisnaskea a jury at Omagh Crown Court has found.
Damien Wiggins, Trasna Way, Lisnaskea, was not found guilty of any criminal offence because he was deemed by the courts as unfit to plea.
However the jury found that he “committed the acts” outlined in four of the charges, namely four counts of gross indecency towards a child.
He originally faced 12 charges of sexually abusing two girls over the course of a 10 year period but six of those were withdrawn by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
On Monday last week the court heard that Wiggins was accused to sexually abusing two female children.
Giving evidence to the court one of them explained that while Wiggins had never physically forced her, she felt she had been “shamed” into allowing the sexual abuse to continue during her childhood until the age of 15.
She gave accounts of specific incidents where she alleged Wiggins had sexually abused her.
In her evidence she said she could not remember when the abuse began.
“When I was brought up it was a thing I had to do,” she said, “It happened when I was younger and so it was a feeling that I had to go and do it.”
In one account she recalled a meeting at the ruins of a castle close to the defendant’s home, in a room which she referred to in court as ‘the dungeons’.
“I knew what I was doing, but I had to go. He would say to me, ‘If you don’t meet me I’m going to tell your family about me and you’. He would say that on lots of occasions.
“He was standing in the corner of the dungeons. I could see his face and smell him. I just did what I had to do and got out of there,” she said.
In court the victim conceded that she had met with Wiggins voluntarily, “effectively by appointment” during each of the accounts she recalled in her evidence.
Crown Court judge Alistair Devlin is now tasked with deciding how Wiggins should be dealt with.
A pre-sentence report has been ordered to be brought before the judge by February 18.
Wiggins will appear at Coleraine Crown Court again on February 21 where he will learn what penalty he will face.
