THE DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has lodged an appeal against the leniency of a 12- month jail term imposed on a father of eight who plied a 15-year- old girl with alcohol before having sex with her and videotaping the incident over several hours.
The DPP’s decision to appeal the two-year sentence with 12 months suspended imposed on Anthony Nagle by Judge Patrick Moran at Cork Circuit Criminal Court last month was yesterday welcomed by the Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI).
Nagle (48), Nicholas Square, Ballymacthomas, Cork, pleaded guilty to three charges including possessing child pornography, producing child pornography and using a child for sexual exploitation in Cork between September 14th and October 17th 2005.
The court heard that Nagle had promised the girl some DVDs on the night of her Junior Cert celebrations and brought her back to his flat, where he plied her with 24 bottles of WKD alcopop and gave her cannabis before having sex with her, which he videotaped.
RCNI director Fiona Neary said that while she was not in court on the day that sentence was imposed, it seemed an exceptionally lenient sentence given the high level of premeditation and the various aspects of criminality involved in the offence.
“His offence involved luring the child to his home on false pretences, it involved premeditatedly buying alcohol and plying the child with it and cannabis, it involved lying to the child’s mother about her location while he was in the act of sexually abusing her.
“And it involved videotaping this abuse while continuing the sexual exploitation over a period of hours and while the child was semi-conscious under the influence of the alcohol and drugs,” she said.
Ms Neary said that while Judge Moran had directed that Nagle’s name be put on the Sex Offenders Register, he had not ordered any assessment of his risk to society or post-release treatment and this was a further failure in child protection and a cause of concern.
“We very much welcome the DPP’s decision to appeal the sentence, not just because the girl at 15 was at a very vulnerable age, but it’s important to others who might find themselves in similar situations that there are checks in the system.
“It’s important that people know that in cases where a judge may impose a lenient sentence, that the DPP is willing to appeal such a sentence to ensure that those who commit such offences receive appropriate sentences – it’s very welcome,” Ms Neary added.