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  • February 14, 2025
Former priest who raped and sexually abused young boys has his latest prison sentence halved on appeal – The Irish Times

Former priest who raped and sexually abused young boys has his latest prison sentence halved on appeal – The Irish Times

A former priest who was sentenced to an additional five years more than 20 years ago for the “predatory” rape and assault of a schoolboy – having previously been jailed for 19 years for similar crimes involving three other victims – has completed his latest prison sentence had been halved on appeal.

Denis Nolan (71), former member of The Presbytery, Rathnew, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one charge of oral rape and 36 charges of sexual assault on dates between 1994 and 2000 at locations in Dublin and Wicklow. Nolan was between 42 and 48 years old at the time of the crime, while the victim was between 11 and 17 years old.

The court found that the abuse included inappropriate touching, fondling, masturbation and oral rape.

Nolan has been in custody since 2014 and was serving three sentences totaling 19 years for sexual offenses against three other complainants when the additional five-year term was imposed, giving an expected release date of March 2032.

Judge Paul McDermott had imposed a main sentence of eight years in relation to the rape charge, but reduced this to five years to run concurrently with his other sentences, noting that the court had to “face the reality” of the age of the perpetrator and had to acknowledge that With an eight-year prison sentence, Nolan would be in his early 80s upon his eventual release.

He also gave Nolan concurrent prison sentences of three years on the sexual assault charges and ordered Nolan to undergo five years of post-release supervision.

In quashing the five-year sentence at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday and sentencing Nolan to two and a half years in prison, Judge John Edwards described Nolan’s offending as “egregious” and said it had had a “very destructive impact” on the victim’s life.

He said the court agreed with the judge that the crime against the victim should be marked “separately and individually” and that there was no way Nolan would get a “free pass” for that.

What the three-judge court had to consider, he said, was whether the “extra” of five years was appropriate.

He said an “important factor” in the court’s consideration was that if Nolan had been convicted “on one occasion” for this case and the cases for which he is already serving a prison sentence, it was unlikely the cumulative sentence would have been met. five years longer than the total term of 19 years he is currently serving.

Mr Justice Edwards said the court considered that the sentencing judge’s adjustment for proportionality in applying the principle of totality was “somewhat inadequate” and represented an error in the circumstances of the case.

He found that while there would have been “some increase” in the total sentence, the final total sentence, however structured, would not have been as high as 24 years and would have been closer to 21 or 22 years.

In resentencing Nolan, the judge appointed a main sentence of twelve years with a reduction of one third, resulting in a prison sentence of eight years after the mitigation.

Respecting the principle of totality and showing “some modest mercy” towards Nolan even though he had “shown little enough to his victims”, Judge Edwards said the court would adjust the eight-year term downwards by five and a half years . meaning Nolan will have to serve an additional two and a half years in prison.

He said this gave an adjusted total sentence of 21 and a half years in prison, with the two and a half year “add-on” starting from the time the 19 year sentence expires.