A Waterford man and woman have been accused of sexually abusing and exploiting their son when he was aged between five and nine.
The allegations were made at the Central Criminal Court today.
The parents face a total of 82 charges of abuse, including rape, sexual exploitation and child cruelty.
They deny all the charges, telling gardai that the boy was a difficult child who had attention deficity hyperactivity disorder, and behavioural problems.
The prosecuting counsel told the jury that the child first told a teacher in school about the alleged physical abuse.
Social workers became involved and the boy was taken into care.
A medical examination was carried out on the child which found no physical trauma related to sexual assault.
However, the examining doctor said this did not exclude the possibility of sexual abuse occurring.
Last April the child told one of his carers that he made up the allegations of sexual abuse, but then told gardai the allegations were true, and that he had said they weren't because he was afraid of the forthcoming trial.
The trial continues on Thursday.
