Aidan Leacy’s sexual assault sentence reduced on appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

On 8 December 2014, the Court of Appeal reduced Aidan Leacy’s sentence for sexually assaulting two young girls from six years’ imprisonment to three years’ imprisonment with two years’ post-release supervision.

The proceedings were reported on 9 December 2014.

Leacy, aged 56, of New Ross, Co Wexford, had pleaded guilty to one count of sexually assaulting two young girls. The offences occurred in the west of the country between November 2007 and January 2008.

Judge Carroll Moran had sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on 3 March 2013.

Mr Justice George Birmingham said the girls were seven years old when Leacy sexually assaulted them. They were in the same school class as Leacy’s daughter and would visit his house to play.

Thomas Creed, counsel for Leacy, said his client had been “effectively burnt out of his house”, had lost his job and had his children taken away from him and his wife as a direct result of the offence.

The court was told that Leacy would remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely.