Courts / Wicklow / Report
Defrocked priest abused boys for 13 years
Summary
In a Central Criminal Court hearing, the defrocked priest Denis Nolan, aged 70, pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offences against a schoolboy between 2001 and 2005. Nolan, who served as curate in Rathnew from 1998 to 2012, had been on the school's management board. He lured the 12‑year‑old boy to do gardening work, offering €15‑€100, then began asking about sex and molesting him. Nolan raped the boy on several occasions, including face‑down on a bed, in a car, and at the presbytery, sometimes after giving him beer. He also performed oral sex on the boy more than 15 times between 2005 and 2006. The victim's impact report described the abuse as "horrendous" and said it had caused lasting mental health problems. Nolan had previously been jailed for seven years in 2014 for a similar abuse in Wicklow and for six years in 2017 for another case.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Defrocked priest abused boys for 13 years. Charges or matters: three counts of anal rape, one of oral rape and five of sexual assault of the school boy on dates between January 2001 and December 2005. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- January 2001 Incident
- December 2005 Incident
- December 2 Adjournment
- 1998 to 2012 Incident
- 2005 and 2006 Incident
- 2006 to 2012 Incident
- 2022-11-15 Publication
Why: He said he struggles to hold down a job because of mental health difficulties resulting from the abuse at the hands of "this monster". CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: three counts of anal rape, one of oral rape and five of sexual assault of the school boy on dates between January 2001 and December 2005 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: In 2014, Nolan was jailed for seven years for systematically sexually abusing a boy in Co Wicklow over a five-year period beginning in 2009 when the boy was 12.; The judge adjourned the case to December 2 for finalisation.
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