Dublin firefighter accused of raping woman in Boston hotel says he ‘didn't touch' her, US court hears
The complainant, a 29-year-old attorney, claims she was raped by Terence Crosbie (39) while his Dublin Fire Brigade colleague Liam O'Brien slept in a separate bed in a shared hotel room.
She said she had consensual relations with Mr O'Brien after meeting him at The Black Rose bar in Boston. She subsequently fell asleep and, she says, later woke up to a man raping her. The man was later identified as Mr Crosbie.
He denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
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On Wednesday, the third day of the trial in Boston, jurors heard an audio recording of Mr Crosbie denying having sex with the woman, touching her or finding her in his bed when he returned to his room at the Omni Parker House hotel in Boston in the early hours of March 15th, 2024.
'There's nothing missing there, there's nothing I'm skipping, there's nothing I'm leaving out,' Mr Crosbie said, after repeated questioning by the detectives.
Boston Police detective Joseph McDonough testified that the woman did not recall Mr O'Brien's name and did not recall meeting Mr Crosbie before the alleged assault.
The court was told that the detective tracked down Mr Crosbie with the help of hotel security footage as well as images of Mr O'Brien and Mr Crosbie provided to him by a federal agent.
He said that on March 16th, 2024 – a day after the complainant reported the rape – he approached Mr Crosbie by the lift of the hotel.
Detectives initially asked Mr Crosbie of his whereabouts on March 14th and March 15th.
Mr Crosbie said he was one of 10 members of Dublin Fire Brigade who travelled to Boston to march in the city's St Patrick's Day parade.
He said that he interacted with the woman, later identified as the complainant, on Thursday night at The Black Rose bar and again briefly, when the woman went up to the hotel room with Mr O'Brien.
The Black Rose Irish pub in Boston
Mr Crosbie said he waited in a chair in the corridor outside of room 610 while the complainant and Mr O'Brien were inside.
He told detectives that when he returned to the room, he knocked on the door, used his phone as a torch and 'didn't see anybody in the bed'.
Mr Crosbie said he removed his pants and shirt, pulled the bed covers off while still wearing his boxer shorts and got into the bed.
A minute and a half after he laid down, he said he 'heard a girl moving' and saw her collect her belongings in the dark and leave.
He told detectives he did not have any interactions with the complainant before she left.
'Didn't say hello, didn't say goodbye, didn't say anything,' Mr Crosbie said.
When detectives asked whether Mr Crosbie had sex with the woman, he replied: 'No, I didn't touch her.'
The detectives also asked Mr Crosbie if the woman was crying as she left. 'I don't know – it didn't sound like she was crying,' he replied.
Mr Crosbie was arrested later that evening after booking an early flight back to Ireland and boarding a plane.
The detective seized Mr Crosbie's luggage and took photos of his clothing, including a series of specialised T-shirts and jumpers with emblems featuring American flags in the shape of shamrocks and embroidered lettering saying: 'Dublin Fire Brigade Boston 2024.'
Mr Crosbie was identified as wearing similar clothing in surveillance video taken of The Black Rose and the Omni Parker House hotel shown to the court.
The Omni Parker House hotel in Boston where the woman alleges she was raped.
The woman previously testified that she and Mr O'Brien had consensual sex and then she fell asleep in a separate bed. She told the court in tears that she 'woke up to somebody on top of me' and they were raping her.
She said the man, alleged to be Mr Crosbie, disparaged Mr O'Brien while assaulting her. She claimed that while Mr Crosbie was having sex with her, he said: 'I know you want this; [Mr O'Brien] can't even do this for you – what a loser.'
She testified that she told him to 'stop' and that she eventually managed to manoeuvre her legs off the side of the bed and break free.
According to the complainant, Mr Crosbie continued to follow her around the hotel room. When she collected her clothes and went to the bathroom, she said Mr Crosbie tried to get in and 'was jiggling the handle' after she locked the door.
Under cross examination on Wednesday, Mr Crosbie's defence attorney Daniel C Reilly asked Mr McDonough about discrepancies in the complainant's earlier interviews.
Mr Reilly asserted that the woman did not provide detectives with details of Mr Crosbie attempting to push his way into the bathroom until April 8th – weeks after the alleged assault – in an email.
'In her prior interviews she did not mention being in a separate bed [from Mr O'Brien] when Mr Crosbie arrived,' Mr Reilly said.
Mr McDonough confirmed that was correct.
Jurors previously heard that Mr O'Brien was listed as a potential witness as part of the jury selection process. On Wednesday Mr Reilly said 'Mr O'Brien declined to participate in this trial'. Mr McDonough said that was correct.
On Wednesday, jurors also heard from Lindsey Walsh, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the second medical professional to testify that the woman was found to be suffering from a vaginal tear hours after the alleged assault.
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