Courts / Cork / Report
Abuser who apologised in court to victims loses sentence appeal
Summary
Gerard O'Grady, aged 54, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys while babysitting them in the mid‑1980s. The victims, aged about 10 at the time, reported the abuse in 2016. O'Grady was sentenced on 6 March 2018 to six years' imprisonment, with the final two years suspended. The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. In the appeal hearing, Mr Justice George Birmingham noted the offences occurred when O'Grady was 16‑18 and that the victims were six and eight years younger. He described the single offence involving one boy as the most serious form of sexual assault, likely to be tried in the Central Criminal Court today. O'Grady entered the witness box to apologise, claiming he did not understand his actions then and only gained insight after having his first child. The appeal was dismissed.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Abuser who apologised in court to victims loses sentence appeal. Charges or matters: regularly abusing one of the boys while he was babysitting him and a single instance of abusing the other in the mid-1980s. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- March 6, 2018 Incident
- 2019-02-08 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: regularly abusing one of the boys while he was babysitting him and a single instance of abusing the other in the mid-1980s (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: He was sentenced to six years imprisonment with the final two years suspended by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin on March 6, 2018, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal today. He said the Court of Appeal had not been persuaded that the sentence imposed was excessively severe for offending of such seriousness.
Places mentioned
- Cork
- Cork Circuit Criminal Court
- Court of Appeal
- Central Criminal Court
- The Circuit Court
Topics
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