Pensioner’s ‘lenient’ term for sex assault under appeal

A 71-year-old man convicted of indecently assaulting two young boys in the 1980s must wait to hear whether his two-year prison sentence will be increased by the Court of Appeal.

James Maher, aged 71, of Clonroad Beg, Ennis, Co Clare, had pleaded guilty to 18 counts of indecent assault on two boys between January 1982 and April 1985.

He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on each count to run concurrently by Judge Carroll Moran at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on January 14, 2013.