65-year-old who raped niece has sentence reduced

A 65-YEAR-OLD man jailed for raping and sexually assaulting his niece for more than a decade has had his 12-year sentence reduced by two years by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

The three-judge appeal court made the reduction after holding that the 12-year sentence he received at the Central Criminal Court last year did not take into account Charlie Dunne’s early admission of guilt.

Dunne, of Carnalynch, Bailieborough, pleaded guilty to raping and sexually assaulting his niece from 1971 to 1982 in Cavan, Dublin and Wicklow. The abuse started when the girl was just five and she was first raped about the time of her First Communion.