Calls for sentencing reform as online child sex abusers walk free

In one case in the Republic, a man was not jailed despite being found guilty of trying to blackmail a girl into having sex with him, and of violently assaulting a garda who intervened. Picture: iStock

Child safety organisations have raised concerns at the sentences imposed for online child sex abuse in Ireland.

Their calls follow a 27-year sentence handed down in the North for sextortion. On December 10, David Andrews, aged 55, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for sextortion offences against 46 children and one vulnerable adult.