IN CUSTODY | 

Young man accused of raping two schoolboy faces more charges over third alleged victim

Stephen Lee McIlvenny (20) was charged with a further 13 offences

Yesterday at 15:02

A man charged with raping and blackmailing two 15-year-old boys has been accused of a catalogue of similar offences against a third teenage boy.

Appearing at Lisburn Magistrates Court today by video link from prison, Stephen Lee McIlvenny (20) was charged with a further 13 offences alleged to have been committed between November 1, 2019, and October 29, 2022.

McIlvenny, from Glasvey Close, Dunmurry, west Belfast, faces charges of anal rape, oral rape, administering a noxious substance with intent to commit a sex offence, sexual assault, blackmailing the teenage boy into engaging in sexual activity, inciting him to engage in sexual activity, causing him to watch pornography, voyeurism and possessing and distributing indecent images of a child.

He also faces three drug offences including supplying a psychoactive substance, being concerned in supplying class A cocaine and supplying class B cannabis.

On a separate indictment, McIlvenny, who has been in custody since late last year, faces 14 sex offences against two other boys, alleged to have been committed between March 1 and November 9 last year, including two counts each of rape, sexual activity with a child, sexual grooming of a child, making indecent images, possessing indecent images and sexual communication with a child.

He faces further single counts of voyeurism and inciting a child to take an indecent photograph

Previous courts heard that according to the two initial schoolboy complainants, they were raped and abused “on a weekly basis”. It is the police case that McIlvenny blackmailed them into having sex with him by threatening to release intimate images he had of the pair.

A third complainant then came forward after McIlvenny was charged. In court on Monday, a prosecuting lawyer revealed that both cases are being worked on by the same investigation team and the same lawyers within the PPS.

She added that before the files can be joined and progressed, more work was still be done and noted that the PPS was seeking a four-week adjournment.

Defence counsel Mark Farrell conceded that it was “a complicated file” and had no objection to the adjournment.

Remanding McIlvenny, now listed as C/O Hydebank YOC, back into custody, Deputy District Judge Liam McStay put the case back to August 14.