Five years in jail for Portadown businessman

Portadown businessman Gerard Judge has been sentenced to five years in prison for child sex offences.
Gerard JudgeGerard Judge
Gerard Judge

Judge (61), whose address was given as Millbrook Court, Lurgan, appeared in the dock at Craigavon Crown Court today (Thursday) after being remanded in custody on Tuesday.

He was found guilty in October by a majority verdict of seven indecent assaults on a male and one charge of attempted buggery of a boy under 16.

The offences took place between April 1980 and April 1983 against a schoolboy, who worked part-time for Judge in his bar and was aged around 14 at the time.

County Court Judge Patrick Kinney said a lengthy custodial sentence was required in the case, as the level of culpability was high “with a commensurate level of harm to the victim”.

The court heard the victim has struggled with alcohol addiction and suicidal thoughts, and Judge Kinney said he hoped the sentencing would “bring closure” to him.

Judge, who always denied the charges, was also sentenced to two years’ probation.

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