The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the sentence imposed for a rape count arising from the sexual abuse of a child between 1989 and 1996. It said the effective six-year sentence did not fall outside the available range.
The appellant, identified in the judgment as POH, pleaded guilty in October 2015 to indecent assault, sexual assault and one count of rape under section 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990. He received an eight-year sentence for the rape count, with the final two years suspended, and lesser concurrent sentences for the other offences. By the time of this appeal, he had served the sentences for indecent assault and sexual assault. The appeal therefore concerned only the rape count.
The judgment said the injured party was the appellant’s nephew and was aged between six and 12 during the offending. The appellant was aged between 16 and 23. The conduct included sexual touching, exposure to pornography and forced oral sex. The injured party complained in February 2012. The appellant told Gardaí he could not recall specific incidents but accepted that they had happened.
The appellant argued that the sentence was disproportionate and excessively severe. His submissions highlighted his age when the offending began, his lack of other recorded convictions, his record since the offending ended, and the particular value of his guilty plea given the injured party’s difficulty recalling details and sequence.
The sentencing judge set a nine-year headline sentence before mitigation. She reduced it to eight years and suspended two years. The Court of Appeal said the offending was very serious, involved a major breach of trust and blighted the injured party’s primary school years. It also noted the long duration of the offending and the significant mitigating factors.
The court said it could have been open to the sentencing judge to allow a somewhat greater reduction for mitigation. However, it found no error in principle in the approach or the sentence. It concluded that the effective six-year term for abuse over approximately six years did not fall outside the available range, and dismissed the appeal.