Man who abused girl 50 years ago has sentence cut

82-YEAR-OLD SEES 15 MONTHS OF TWO-YEAR TERM SUSPENDED

AN 82-YEAR-OLD man jailed for indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl 50 years ago has had his jail term cut on appeal.

Jack Donohue (82), of Holdenstown, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, had pleaded guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl in the county on dates between September 1, 1968 and September 11, 1969.

He was sentenced at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court to two years’ imprisonment with the final six months suspended by Judge Michael O’Shea on April 7, 2017.

Donohue successfully appealed his sentence on Monday, with the Court of Appeal holding that a greater portion of his two-year term ought to have been suspended given the 82-year-old’s poor health and frailty.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the victim came into contact with Donohue through his work and he was also known to her family.

When the victim was aged eight, Donohue began indecently assaulting her. The abuse took the form of digital penetration and on other occasions, he would take her hand, place it in the pocket of his pants where there was a hole, and onto his penis.

The offending took place when the victim was aged eight and Donohue would have been in his early thirties.

The abuse has had a very serious and lifelong impact on the victim, the judge said.

Donohue had no previous convictions and was otherwise of good character. He lived a quiet, isolated life and never married.

Mr Justice Birmingham said a medical report from his GP indicated that he did not enjoy good health. He has chronic obstructive airways disease, irregular heartbeat, enlarged prostate, a hernia, anxiety and depression.

Counsel for Donohue, Philip Sheahan SC, submitted that his client’s sentence was inappropriately long, that it did not reflect the fact that the offending occurred 50 years ago and, furthermore, that for an 82-year-old an 18-month jail term was a ‘very long sentence’. The maximum sentence for indecent assault at the time was two years, the court heard.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the Court of Appeal was in no doubt about the seriousness of the offending and that the impact on the victim had been ‘really, very, very serious indeed’.

He said there had to be custody and the court did not disagree with the selection of two years as the headline sentence.

In so far as the judge was required to sentence an 82-yearold in poor health, the balance between the portion to be actually served and suspended was ‘inappropriate’.

Given Donohue’s poor health and frailty, Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Mr Justice John Hedigan, said a greater portion fo the sentence should have been suspended.

The court resentenced him to two years’ imprisonment with the final 15 months suspended.