Unnamed man loses appeal over child defilement sentence

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

The unnamed man’s appeal against his sentence for defilement of a child was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 9 June 2023.

The offence occurred in County Cavan in 2017. He had pleaded guilty at Cavan Circuit Criminal Court in June 2021; in January 2022, the trial judge imposed five and a half years’ imprisonment and suspended the final 18 months.

The appeal court rejected the argument that the sentence was severe, finding the seven-year headline sentence within the trial judge’s discretion. It noted the early guilty plea, the child’s young age, coercion and the teenager’s persistence.