‘Predator’ (70) has jail term cut on appeal for abusing autistic boy (11)

A 70-YEAR-old man with a “remarkable” history of sexual offending, described as “dangerous” and “unsafe” for children to be around, has had his six-year jail term for abusing an autistic boy cut on appeal.

The UK citizen, who cannot be identified to protect the victim’s identity, had pleaded guilty to one count of sexually assaulting the boy in a rural town in Co Mayo in April 2015.

Judge Rory McCabe sentenced him to six years imprisonment on February 15, 2017.

The man successfully appealed his sentence yesterday with the Court of Appeal holding that some further reduction ought to have been incorporated into his sentence in order to incentivise rehabilitation and to encourage him to treat children “with the respect that they deserve”.

The court suspended the final 15 months of a six-year sentence on condition he participate in a sex offender’s programme and be of good behaviour.

Giving judgment in the threejudge court, Mr Justice Alan Mahon said the man had approached an 11-year-old autistic boy who lived in the area and was out playing on the road with his go-cart. He offered the boy €25 if he would meet him in a nearby lane way where the assault occurred. The boy used the money to buy food for him and his mother from a fast-food restaurant. When his mother asked him where the money came from, the boy told her what had happened.

During Garda interviews, the man persisted in answering “no comment”. However, when it came before the courts, he pleaded guilty.

Mr Justice Mahon said the victim was greatly disturbed by the assault. The incident greatly affected the boy’s mother leading her to over-protect him.

Mr Justice Mahon said the man’s previous record was “remarkable in this court’s experience”. His record of offending, committed exclusively in the UK, included convictions for gross indecency and taking a child without lawful authorisation. The sentencing judge described him as “predatory” and “dangerous”, adding children were “unsafe in his presence”.

Mr Justice Mahon said the sentencing judge’s view on the level of threat posed by the man to children was shared by the Court of Appeal. In mitigation, he said the man, a UK national, had lived in Ireland for 14 years and with the exception of this offence, had a clean record .

Mr Justice Mahon said the court would reimpose a six-year sentence, but would suspend the final 15 months.