Martin Harte sentenced to nine years for rape and child sexual offence

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

Martin Harte was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of rape and one count of engaging in a sexual act with a child under 17, known in law as defilement. The offences took place in 2013, 2019 and 2022. The court suspended the final year indefinitely, subject to conditions that he commit no further sexual offences and have no direct or indirect contact with the victim.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt imposed a four-year post-release supervision order and directed Harte to follow all directions of the Probation Service. He described the offending as serious, with the offences separated by a long period of time.

The court heard that Harte’s relationship with the victim began when she was 16 and that he was aware of her age. In her victim impact statement, Chloe Loran said the rapes had left her feeling as if she had been murdered and that only her body remained. The judge wished her well for the future.