Irish people are growing increasingly baffled and disturbed at the inordinate leniency with which judges in their country deal with people who harm children, particularly child molesters and paedophiles in general.
This bizarre trend was again exemplified last week when Judge Melanie Greally handed down a suspended prison sentence of just 18-months to 42-year-old Stephen Gregan of Main Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly after he was caught with 64 images and 57 movie files of child sex abuse material on June 13th 2017 the Irish Times reported.
Gregan had already received a nine-month suspended sentence from Judge Martin Nolan after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault on an 11-year-old girl at Penneys, Dundrum Town Centre, in June 2017, which is what led to Gardai seizing hard drives and a computer at his residence, then in Grove Park, Rathmines, Dublin.
Incredibly, Judge Melanie Greally reasoned that it was the fact the two charges were heard separately which allowed the child molester to avoid a custodial sentence.
It is unclear why Irish judges appear to have a systemic sympathy for child molesters and paedophiles but the public is becoming increasingly weary of these predators being given extremely light sentences or, as in this case, no custodial sentence at all.
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