Call for sentencing guidelines for child sex offenders

Call for sentencing guidelines for child sex offenders

Guidelines should be drawn up to assist judges in the sentencing of child sex offenders, a Circuit Court judge has said.

Judge John O’Connor interviewed 18 judges as part of his recently-completed PhD research, almost all of whom said they would welcome sentencing guidelines for underage sex offenders, The Irish Times reports.

It is believed to be the first research into the views of Irish judges on the sentencing of children and adolescents for sexual offences.

Judge O’Connor said his preference would be for non-mandatory guidelines and specialised training for judges dealing with such cases.

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