The Court of Appeal suspended the final 12 months of an eight-year sentence imposed on Gerry Broughan for child sexual offences, after finding that the effect of his early guilty plea had not been made clear in the sentencing decision.
In its ex tempore judgment on 26 May 2017, the court said the offending was very serious and the original sentence was severe, at the higher end of the spectrum. It nevertheless found that the sentence fell within the available range, while concluding that the early plea warranted a specific adjustment.
Broughan appealed the severity of sentences imposed in the Circuit Court in Naas on 4 December 2015. He received concurrent terms of eight years, seven years and seven years on three counts of defilement of a child under 15, and six years for sexual assault of a child. The effective sentence was eight years.
The offences took place at Broughan’s home in Monasterevin between January and February 2014 and involved L.M., who was under 15. The judgment said she had gone there for a sleepover with a school friend, the daughter of Broughan’s partner. It described suggestive Facebook messages, a gradual progression of sexual contact and incidents involving oral sex and intercourse. The judgment also said Broughan made admissions when interviewed after his arrest.
Broughan argued that the sentencing judge had placed too much weight on aggravating factors and insufficient weight on mitigation, particularly his early guilty plea. The appeal court rejected the criticism of the judge’s general approach. It noted that the sentencing judge had recognised the plea, cooperation, admissions and acceptance of responsibility, as well as the benefit of avoiding the complainant having to give evidence at trial.
However, the appeal court said it was unclear how those mitigating factors, especially the early plea, had affected the sentence as structured. The plea had also come early enough to avoid transferring the case to Dublin for video-link facilities. The court therefore suspended the final year of the eight-year term for three years after release.
The suspended term is conditional on Broughan entering a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, and being subject to Probation Service directions during that three-year period. The Circuit Court’s three years of post-release supervision remain in place. The appeal court did not otherwise reduce the sentences.