A jury has convicted a Waterford father of raping his son from the age of six years old and acquitted the child’s mother of having sex with him.

Jurors took just over seven hours to return the guilty verdicts on the 64-year-old, who cannot be named to protect his son’s identity.

They also convicted him of one count of child cruelty relating to an incident where the father locked his son in a box for six hours.

The jury acquitted him of charges that he raped the child with a hot fire poker. The mother was found not guilty of having sex or simulating sex with the boy at the behest of the father.

There was no reaction from either accused when the verdicts were read out.

Jurors are still deliberating on a single count of child cruelty against the mother relating to the box incident. They will return on Monday to continue deliberating.

Prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC asked Mr Justice Robert Eagar to remove the father’s bail as he has now been found guilty. The judge remanded him in custody until Monday and declared him a sex offender.

The boy’s father faced nine counts of raping the boy, nine counts of raping the boy with a poker and one count of cruelty. The mother faced two counts of sexual assault relating to allegations she had sex with the boy and one count of cruelty.

Both parents have pleaded not guilty to the allegations which are alleged to have occurred between 2009 and 2011 in their Waterford home.

The parents had originally faced a total of 82 charges, but 60 of these were withdraw this week following legal argument.