Man loses appeal against sentence for defilement of a child

A Kildare man has failed in his appeal against his three-year sentence for having sex with a 13-year-old girl when he was aged 19.

The now 21-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to three years imprisonment by Judge Michael O’Shea at Naas Circuit Criminal Court in June last year.

He had pleaded guilty to a charge of defilement of a child at an address in Co Kildare in 2009.

Lawyers for the applicant told the court that Judge O’Shea erred in principle by failing to attach sufficient weight to the mitigating factors in the case, including the defendant’s young age, his lack of relevant previous convictions and his characterisation by the probation services as someone unlikely to commit an offence of a similar nature again.

Counsel for the State, Ms Orla Crowe BL, said that the man had committed a very serious offence and the fact that he had purchased condoms prior to having sex with the girl was evidence of premeditation.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, sitting with Mr Justice Declan Budd and Mr Justice Daniel O’Keeffe, said the court could see any error in principle in the circumstances of the case and would accordingly dismiss the appeal.