The trial has begun at Donegal Town Circuit Court of six men charged with sexually assaulting a young girl.
The alleged offences against the same victim took place in 2002 and 2003 when the girl was aged 12 and 13.
The men face a total of 22 charges of sexually assaulting the girl in various locations in Donegal including wooded areas and the grounds of a national school.
Opening the case against the men, barrister Patricia McLoughlin said this was a sordid case.
Ms McLoughlin said the girl had been in the care of the health board when the first two offences took place. At the time of the other assaults she said the girl was behaving very badly, drinking, smoking and being sexually active.
The barrister told the jury that the common thread was that she was a child and the accused were all adult men who knew her age.
She said one of the assaults took place in the home of one of the accused when his girlfriend was in hospital having had their second child.
The girl at the centre of the case is due to give her evidence to the court tomorrow and the trial is expected to last two weeks.
