Three people have gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court on a total of 21 charges including the rape and sexual assault of a young girl which allegedly began when she was three-and-a-half years old.
The mother of the child faces 13 charges of sexual assault and a charge of rape relating to an incident where she allegedly facilitated the rape of her child at the age of six.
The complainant's uncle is charged with six counts of rape including oral rape.
A third man, who was a family friend, faces one count of oral rape when the child was older. They cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the complainant.
All three have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecuting counsel Anne Marie Lawlor told the court the alleged abuse began when the complainant was three-and-a-half years old and continued regularly until she was 12. She said the case involved a child being groomed in the context of a mother carrying out sexual acts on the child and getting the child to perform sexual acts on her.
The last alleged incident occurred when she was 15, the jury was told.
The complainant is now in her 20s.
Ms Lawlor told the court the woman will tell them how she grew up in a rural area and lived in a house with her grandparents, mother, and an uncle and aunt.
Her mother later had a partner with whom she had several more children and the complainant will give evidence of being "habitually sexually assaulted" at home and on other occasions while on holiday in another county.
She will also give evidence that at around the age of six she was taken from her bed by her mother and brought to her uncle’s bed to be raped while her mother watched before taking her back to their own bed, Ms Lawlor told the jury.
Ms Lawlor explained to the jury the law on the offence of rape allows a person who procures, aids or abets the rape of person to be charged with rape as well as a person who carries out the act.
The alleged assaults continued until the young woman was 12 and took place once more when she was 15 but she "played dead" as she was sexually assaulted by her mother.
Ms Lawlor told the jury the allegations involve a child who could not consent because of her age. She said the complainant would give evidence about her mother’s alcohol intake and how it impacted on how she was sexually assaulted.
The trial continues tomorrow.
