Unnamed woman loses appeal over sexual defilement conviction

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

An unnamed woman’s conviction for sexually defiling a boy was upheld when the Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal on 18 January 2024.

She had received a four-year sentence, with the final two years suspended, at Clonmel Circuit Criminal Court in November 2022. The offence took place at her home between 1 April and 15 May 2016, while the boy was in her care at a Midlands school.

The appeal concerned Facebook messages used at her trial. The court ruled that the mutual assistance request could be formulated by the Director of Public Prosecutions and transmitted by the Department of Justice. It also found that material received for a wider period than requested was not thereby unlawful and that the evidence was sufficiently connected with its authenticity certificate.