Mallon sentence appealed

Prosecutors argue Mallon was a 'highly-functioning individual'

American prosecutors have filed an official appeal against the sentence of a senior civil servant who arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex in a hotel room in the US.

Stan Mallon was jailed for 21 months in March, after admitting using an internet chatline to contact a girl who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

The 62-year-old was acting chief executive of the Ulster Scots Agency until his arrest last March in Chicago.

In April, the US district attorney's office in Chicago indicated they were likely to appeal what they considered a lenient sentence.

Prosecutors have taken the case a step further on Monday by submitting a 30-page document to the Federal Court of Appeals, arguing his sentence should be increased to between 41 and 51 months.

They have argued that Mallon was a "highly-functioning individual" when he set up a liaison with a girl he believed was 14.

The father of five from Crumlin in County Antrim escaped the maximum sentence of more than four years prison after the judge ruled that he was suffering a "diminished capacity".

Any hearing is not likely to take place for at least six months.