Courts / Dublin / Report
10-year jail term upheld for repeated abuse of toddler
Summary
In 2020, a 53‑year‑old man was sentenced to ten years in prison for 56 counts of indecent assault on his toddler cousin between 1982 and 1986. The abuse began when the victim was about two and a half and continued until she was six or seven. The man, who was 15 when the first assault occurred, forced his penis into the child's mouth and placed her on a toilet seat to facilitate the attacks. The victim, who has no recollection of a time when she was not terrified, attempted suicide at 15 and has struggled with alcohol and employment in her twenties. The Court of Appeal rejected the appellant's appeal, holding that the sentence was proportionate to the gravity of the offences and the victim's age and prolonged nature of the abuse. The appeal was dismissed by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 10-year jail term upheld for repeated abuse of toddler. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- January 1982 Incident
- August 1986 Incident
- August 1985 Other
- 2020-10-09 Publication
Why: He said that the trial judge set out the sentence in a comprehensive and complete manner "in order to ensure the sentence she imposed was proportionate and that it struck the balance between the offending content and the personal circumstances of the offender". CNI source report
Case subjects
Appellant
Outcome: By Paul Neilan A man jailed for ten years for repeatedly indecently assaulting his toddler cousin has failed in his appeal against the severity of his sentence at the Court of Appeal today. The man, who cannot be named so that his victim cannot be identified, was sentenced in May of last year at Dublin Circuit Court for 56 counts of indecent assault on the child over a four-year period.
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