Melrose man to be shipped to Northern Ireland to answer child-rape charges from the 1970s

A federal judge today approved the extradition of a man living in a Melrose senior apartment complex to Northern Ireland, where he will be formally charged with 12 counts of "indecently assaulting" his niece between 1975 and 1979, starting with fondling when she was 11 and eventually raping her when she was 14.

Northern Ireland court documents submitted in US District Court in Boston charge that Desmond Damien John Anderson, 67, sexually attacked his niece repeatedly when she would visit her grandparents, with whom he lived, in Derry, Northern Ireland and then raped her after her family moved to England and he visited.

At a hearing today, Anderson, who holds Irish citizenship, waived any further extradition hearings, according to court records, which state he will be shipped to Northern Ireland as soon as the British and US governments can agree on the details of his handover.

According to court records, Anderson has lived in the US since before 2001, when his niece first discussed the attacks with a doctor - to whom she'd gone for a prescription for tranquilizers to help her deal with his annual return visits from Massachusetts.

She eventually told investigators Anderson first began fondling her when he was 13 and she was just 5, that he then continued to play with her body for years and that after her family had moved to England, he raped her for the first time.

The "indecent assault" charges cover the period 1975 through 1979, when she was between 11 and 14. He is not charged for the incidents when he was under 14, because Northern Ireland law does not consider children under 14 capable of criminal intent.

According to her account to police investigators, the woman grew up suffering depression and suicidal thoughts and became an alcoholic. When she was 32, she said she consumed a large amount of alcohol, then called her mother, only to have Anderson answer the phone - and asked if she was calling to arrange a visit. She told investigators she agreed, on condition Anderson confess what he'd done to her mother. She said he did, after which her mother grabbed her by the hair and ordered her out of the apartment.

Innocent, etc.