Gardaí investigate claim teenage girl groped in all-male hospital ward

GARDAÍ are waiting for a man to complete his treatment in hospital before they will question him about the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl in a hospital ward.

Officers are probing an allegation that the male patient, who is in his 60s, “groped” the victim in an all-male ward of Cork University Hospital (CUH) at around 5am on Monday.

Injuries

It is understood the girl was placed in an all-male ward while being treated for serious injuries. A spokeswoman for CUH said: “Cork University Hospital is co-operating with Garda authorities in their investigation into an incident that allegedly took place in the hospital in the early hours of May 14.”

The alleged victim is aged in her mid to late teens and, because of her age, the matter has been reported to the Garda National Protective Services Bureau.

The sexual assault allegation is being probed by Togher gardaí, who are working with the Protective Services Bureau.

“This is a case of groping. There has been no arrests yet but there may well be when the alleged perpetrator has completed his treatment in the hospital,” a source said.

It is understood the girl was being treated in hospital for injuries she suffered in an accident when the alleged incident happened. Two nurses on duty were alerted to the incident on Monday morning by the alleged victim.

It has been reported that the man asked the girl for a kiss before she managed to raise the alarm and contact two nurses on duty elsewhere in the ward at the time.

It is not known why the teenage girl was being treated in an all-male ward.