Andrew Roche jailed for raping 12-year-old boy

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

Andrew Roche was jailed for five and a half years at the Central Criminal Court, reported on 24 July 2017, after pleading guilty to orally and anally raping a 12-year-old boy. The court imposed six years of post-release supervision after his release.

The boy was lured down a lane in Tipperary during a period between 25 December 2008 and 17 March 2009, the report said. Mr Justice Paul Coffey said an eight-year sentence would have been appropriate before taking account of Roche’s guilty plea, relative youth at the time and low intellectual function.

The sentence was backdated to 19 April 2016, when Roche was held in custody solely on these charges. He was also certified as a sex offender.