A garda has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and falsely imprisoning a woman at a Co Wicklow Garda station.
Garda William Ryan, 41, had pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual assault and one of falsely imprisoning the woman at Aughrim Garda Station in September 2020.
The woman in this case described being shocked, horrified and scared during the incident.
She said she had called to the garda station to see Ryan for advice about how to get her car back after it was seized while her son was driving it.
She said Ryan had helped with the process of retrieving the car, but then he had commented on her body and had grabbed and slapped her backside as she stood to leave.
She said he then told her he had done her a favour and it was her time to repay him.
In the witness box she broke down in tears as she said it was the worst feeling she had ever had in her life. She said she did not know what was coming next and she went numb and froze,
She said she felt she could not leave as he was standing in her way and decided to show him a photograph of herself in a bikini to satisfy him so she could get away but said after this she was sexually assaulted twice more.
Later that night, she said she told her husband that Ryan was a guard and "they can basically do what they want".
Ryan took to the witness stand to give his account of what happened in Aughrim Garda Station on 29 September 2020.
He claimed the woman in the case showed him pictures on her phone that he considered "quite raunchy" and made suggestive comments to him.
Ryan claimed the woman was "very much" behaving in a sexually charged manner and they went upstairs where they had a consensual sexual encounter.
He was found guilty by the jury this afternoon.
Ryan was remanded in custody for sentencing in October.
He gave no reaction to the verdicts.
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