Appeal court upholds one-year jail term for man who abused cousin

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

The Court of Appeal has rejected a man’s bid to reduce his one-year jail term for sexually abusing his eight-year-old cousin while babysitting her in Kildare more than two decades ago. He cannot be named to protect her anonymity.

The man had pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault. The abuse involved four incidents in the summer of 1999, when he was 15 and his cousin was eight. He was sentenced in March 2025 to three years in prison, with the final two years suspended on strict conditions.

Appeal judge John Edwards said the sentence was proportionate and that the sentencing judge had properly considered the man’s youth at the time, guilty plea and other mitigating factors.