High Court frees 'child rapist'

The High Court in Dublin has ruled that a 41-year-old man, convicted of the statutory rape of a 12-year-old girl, should be released.

Last week, the Republic of Ireland's Supreme Court ruled parts of the existing law were unconstitutional.

The court said the law did not allow a defence of making a genuine mistake about a girl's age.

The High Court decided, in the wake of that ruling, to free the man, known only as Mr A.

He had sex with the 12-year-old girl after plying her with alcohol.

The state is argued that Mr A should have stayed behind bars and serve his full three-year sentence.

Until last week's ruling, under a law introduced in 1935, it was automatically a crime for a man to have sex with a girl under the age of 15, no matter what age he believed she was.

The implications of the ruling are also on the agenda for a meeting of the Irish cabinet.

The government is likely to agree a common age of consent of 16 for both boys and girls in the Republic of Ireland.

It is expected to allow teenagers to have sex with someone between the ages of 14 and 16 years, as long as they are not more than two years older than the younger person.