A DONEGAL man has been sent forward to stand trial on a charge of engaging in a sexual act with a ‘protected person’.
A book of evidence has been served on the 51-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
The accused appeared for a brief hearing at Buncrana District Court.
The man is charged with engaging in a sexual act with a protected person knowing that that person is a protected person or being reckless as to whether they are.
The DPP has consented to the man being returned for trial at the next sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court.
Judge Paul Kelly administered the alibi warning
A section 56 order, relating to videotapes of interviews, was granted and Judge Kelly assigned solicitor Mr Frank Dorrian and one legal counsel.
A publication order is in place in order to protect the identity of the victim.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 defines a protected person as someone who ‘lacks the capacity to consent to a sexual act if he or she is, by reason of a mental or intellectual disability or a mental illness incapable of: (a) Understanding the nature, or the reasonably foreseeable consequences, of the act; (b) Evaluating relevant information for the purpose of deciding whether or not to engage in that act, or (c) Communicating his or her consent to that act by speech, sign language or otherwise.’