Addressing a lack of high-quality sentencing information in Ireland, this important book explores the factors that influence judges to impose a sentence of long-term imprisonment in sexual offence cases.Judges have made it clear that sentences of 15 years to life imprisonment are to be reserved for offending that is truly egregious . Griffin, using over 100 serious sexual offence cases, examines what this means in practice. The book is designed to be used in the classroom and the court, as well as providing a solid evidence base to inform the public and policy discourse on sentencing.