Jail sentence for man who defiled girl (12) is upheld

A man's appeal against his four-year jail sentence for the sexual abuse of a child in County Cavan has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The appellant, now 23, pleaded guilty at Cavan Circuit Criminal Court in June 2021 to defilement of a person under 15 years of age following an incident in 2017 when he was 17. The trial judge imposed a sentence of five and a half years in January 2022, suspending the final 18…