Former Irish Defence Forces member 'could have been charged' with rape, judge says

A 63-year-old former member of the Defence Forces has been sentenced to ten years imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court following his guilty pleas to five counts of sexual assault against a child in Cavan. The offences occurred between September 2007 and June 2010, when the victim was aged between eleven and fourteen years. Mr Justice David Keane imposed the sentence after hearing evidence of a sustained…