Man’s false incest allegations against wife and son have ‘destroyed’ family, court told

A judge has ordered a man to vacate the family home after he admitted to secretly planting a recording device in the marital bedroom and an adult son’s bedroom in an effort to record sexual activity.At a contested Family Law Court hearing, the wife in the case said her husband had “destroyed his own family” by making false incest allegations against her and her son.Judge Catherine Ryan granted the wife a barring order against her husband for two years, meaning he must vacate the family home.In evidence, the mother and son strenuously denied the man’s allegations of incest against them.READ MOREThe judge also granted the son a three-year safety order against his father, who she found had “done things to make his son afraid”. Ryan also said she had a “grave concern” regarding the man surreptitiously placing the recording device in bedrooms in the house earlier this year.The husband told the court he first placed a recording device behind books in the marital bedroom after initially suspecting his wife was having an affair.“I was shocked to hear my son was in the recording,” he said, adding that he later placed the device in his son’s room.The man told the judge the recordings from his son’s room revealed “repeated multiple activities each day, and I knew a crime was being committed”.[ Judgment in default entered against 130 Christian Brothers in sex abuse damages caseOpens in new window ]“There was a lot of incestuous activity happening,” he said, adding that “I did find it unbelievable”.He said: “It is a massive shock and horror on the whole family ... To see your own son being destroyed by his mother – it is absolutely horrific.”He described the “bond between a mother and a child” as “the most sacred thing in nature”.The man said he had provided the recordings to local gardaí and had made a statement to the force. He said gardaí had submitted the recordings to forensics and they had “improved the quality of recordings”.The wife told the court she denied her husband’s allegation of incest. “We have a very loving relationship, but it is a normal mother-son relationship.”Ryan refused the husband’s application for a barring order against his wife who, he had argued, would stop at nothing to get him. [ Child due to have heart transplant died of natural causes, coroner rulesOpens in new window ]“I think the opposite is the case and he will potentially stop at nothing and that is of huge concern to the court,” the judge said.The judge said she accepted that the woman was in fear and extremely nervous. The wife said her husband “has destroyed his own family by saying this accusation that did not happen” and that she had turned down her husband’s offer to play her his recordings.On the day that her husband told the children of his incest allegations, the woman said that she called 999. Gardaí arrived and, the following day, removed two guns from the house.The son said that a sibling first told him his father had the recordings, a remark he initially believed was a “prank”. He said the incest allegations “are completely false, completely inaccurate”.[ Farmer jailed for ‘shocking’ neglect of cattle that saw remains scattered across landOpens in new window ]He said his father has continued making the accusation against him “and it has only gotten worse in that regard”.The man said that he still has a close relationship with his sibling and his mother, but the scars from the father’s allegations “will remain with me for the rest of my life”.