A Wicklow man has been jailed for five years for the rape of three children committed when he was a teenager over 20 years ago.
Anthony Nugent (38) was convicted following a Central Criminal Court trial earlier this year of sexual assault, oral rape and anal rape of the first boy on dates between 1999 and 2002. The child was between eight and 10 years old, while Nugent was between 13 and 15 years old.
Nugent of Mountain View, Ballyguile, Wicklow Town, was also convicted by the jury of anal and oral rape of a second child between 2000 and 2002 when the boy was aged between seven and nine years old and he was between 14 and 16 years old.
He was further convicted of anal rape of a third child on dates between 2000 and 2002, while the victim was aged between nine and ten years old, and he was aged between 13 and 16 years old.
Nugent has previous convictions for road traffic offences and criminal damage. The court heard that the victims wished to waive their anonymity to allow Nugent to be named.
Imposing sentence on Thursday, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo noted the seriousness of the offending, the victim’s ages at the time and the harm caused to each of them.
He said he would set a headline sentence of 14 years for an adult in respect of the rape offences against the first two victims and a headline sentence of eight years in respect of the rape offence to the third injured party.
Mr Justice Naidoo noted that Nugent was a teenager at the time of his offending and that youth is considered a “significant” mitigating factor in law. He reduced the headline sentences to seven years and four years, respectively, to reflect Nugent's young age at the time.
The judge noted that while Nugent was older than the three victims “whose innocence he exploited”, he was also “himself a child” in law at the time.
Having considered the other mitigating factors and Nugent's personal circumstances, Mr Justice Naidoo imposed an effective global sentence of five years and six months, backdated to October 24, when he went into custody.
He suspended the final six months of the sentence under strict conditions and directed Nugent to place himself under the supervision of the probation services for two years post-release.
The Central Criminal Court previously heard from two of the victims of the devastating and long-lasting effects the offending has had on them throughout their lives.
The first victim read his own victim impact statement at a previous hearing and addressed Nugent directly. He told Nugent that what he had done had destroyed his life. He said the abuse had broken his spirit, scarred his soul and hurt his physical body. He said the memories of it still haunt him.
The man had told gardai how the abuse began when the then-teenage Nugent asked him if he wanted to play a “secret game” and brought him to his bedroom, where he sexually assaulted him.
He described how Nugent had lied to get what he wanted, preying on a child’s innocence and knowing no child wants to be left out. He said he had hated himself for falling for his lies.
“I don’t hate you for what you did, but you have to be ashamed,” he said, “It is good for you to see the consequences.”
He told Nugent he had manipulated young boys: “You used young children so you could get sexual pleasure.”
Nugent's current partner told the court that she believed him when he told her that the charges were not true. She described his caring role within their household before he went into custody.
She asked the judge to “please go easy on him” and asked the court, with Christmas coming up, to give the “best present” and set him free. “He did not do anything wrong,” she told the court.
Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo noted the mitigation, which described Nugent as a “good and supportive family man, employee and friend”.
He said the court noted the offending occurred over 20 years ago and accepted the contents of a report in relation to the defendant, his partner, and family.
Mr Justice Naidoo noted the defence asked the court to consider not imposing an immediate custodial sentence but said he could not agree to this due to the seriousness of the offending and the impact on the victims.
