Man gets one-year sentence for sexual abuse of girl

A one-year jail sentence was imposed this evening on the middle-aged man who videotaped having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Anthony Nagle, aged 48, of Flat 2 14 Nicholas Square, Ballymacthomas, Cork City, faced a possible maximum sentence of 14 years as he admitted making and possessing child pornography and using a child for sexual exploitation.

Judge Patrick J. Moran viewed some of the 30-minute video recorded over a period of hours and described it as “most certainly child pornography.”

“I accept you now deeply regret what happened. You say were not aware of the age of consent, I don’t know about that. You appear to be clearly aware of what you were doing.

“I must have regard to what the view of society might be. This young girl was subjected to all sorts of sexual activities with a man much older than her who recorded it and put the video in a safe in his bedroom,” the judge said.

He imposed a two-year jail sentence with the second year suspended.

Nagle got into the witness box at Cork Circuit Criminal Court and said, “I would like to apologise profusely for what I did to that girl. My thoughts are with her family. It is something I regret from the day it happened.”

He said he was sexually assaulted a number of times in his own childhood and was exposed to a lot of alcohol and violence in his background.

“I actually genuinely believed she was over the age of consent, being quite honest about it. I was not aware of my actions that night. I have attended every psychiatric unit in the city,” Nagle said.

He told Judge Moran that he had attempted suicide countless times, most recently by tying a rope around his neck and jumping out the window of his apartment but he said the rope broke.

Judge Moran that the teenager’s confidence was shattered and she felt betrayed by the experience. She had been out celebrating her Junior Cert results when she met Nagle who bought her 24 bottles of WKD and gave her cannabis and cigarettes before having intercourse and oral sex with her and videotaping the acts.