Childminder’s son has sentence increased for sexual assault of 5-year-old

A man in his early twenties has had his sentence increased from two years to three years imprisonment following a successful appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Court of Criminal Appeal. The man pleaded guilty in January at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of sexual assault committed at his mother's home in Monaghan during 2011. The victim, aged five at the time, was in the care of the respondent's mother, who worked as a childminder. Mr Justice Nial Fennelly found the original sentence imposed by Judge John O'Hagan fell outside judicial discretion and was unduly lenient. The appellate court determined the offending constituted a mid-range sexual assault and imposed a five-year sentence with the final two years suspended, conditional on probation supervision upon release.