Sunday school teacher jailed for abusing boy 20 years ago has sentence cut on appeal
A Sunday school teacher jailed for abusing an 11-year-old boy 20 years ago has had his prison sentence cut on appeal.
Thomas Garvan (aged 64), of Corbally Glade, Westborrk Glen, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexually assaulting the boy on dates between December 1996 and October 1999. The victim was aged between 11 and 14 at the time.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Garvan was a trusted friend of the boy's family who were members of a religious congregation where Garvan was a Sunday School teacher.
He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years imprisonment by Judge Martin Nolan on March 23, 2017. The maximum sentence for the offence was five years.
Garvan successfully appealed his sentence today with the Court of Appeal holding that insufficient credit was given for the guilty plea.
Giving judgment in the three-judge court, Mr Justice Alan Mahon said Garvan had pleaded guilty at an early opportunity which was of significant value to the prosecution in circumstances where a number of charges had to be withdrawn because they could not have been committed by the then accused at a particular address.
Mr Justice Mahon said the offences were undoubtedly serious and the impact on the victim was enormous.
Garvan had a relevant previous conviction for sexual assault although it had been committed in 2013, long after the instant offences, and for that he had received a suspended sentence which was activated in July 2016.
Mr Justice Mahon said it was common practice to reduce a headline sentence in the order of 25% where there is a guilty plea although conditions generally relevant to this were the timing of the plea and the strength of the evidence.
In most cases of historic sexual abuse, guilty pleas were usually of considerable value and “this case was no exception”.
The injured party would have been severely traumatised by having to give evidence in a trial in relation to these matters, as had been submitted by Garvan's barrister, Hugh Hartnett SC. Furthermore, Garvan cooperated with gardaí and expressed remorse for what he did.
He said the court was quite satisfied that insufficient allowance was provided for the particular value of the guilty plea.
Mr Justice Mahon, who sat with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Hedigan, resentenced Garvan to three years and nine months imprisonment.
