"Significant threat to women” has sentence for sexual exploitation cut on appeal

A man convicted of sexually exploiting a child online has had his sentence reduced on appeal at the Court of Appeal. The defendant, aged 23, with an address in County Cork, had pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of child exploitation occurring in April 2012. He was originally sentenced to seven years imprisonment, with the final two years suspended, in February 2016. Following his appeal, Mr Justice Alan Mahon reduced the sentence to five-and-a-half years, with the final two years suspended. The court heard the defendant was nearly 19 when he engaged in online sexual contact with a 12-year-old victim via video conversation. He accepted continuing contact after learning the victim's true age and requiring her to remove clothing and engage in sexual acts. The judge noted the defendant had previous convictions for sexual assault of an adult woman, describing him as "a significant threat to women" at a young age.