A judge has praised the courage of a young man who was raped and sexually assaulted by a priest in Co Wicklow for more than five years beginning when he was 12 years old.
Ms Justice Karen O'Connor told the young man he had been subjected to horrific abuse at a very young age by Denis Nolan, a former priest in Rathnew.
The judge urged the young man to be kind to himself and to be proud of his courage in coming forward which she said would encourage others to do the same.
The judge made her comments at the end of a sentencing hearing in which the man’s victim impact statement was read out.
Nolan, who is now 70, pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault and four counts of rape between January 2001 and September 2006.
The court heard the man reported the abuse to gardaí after telling his girlfriend that he was thinking of doing something to himself.
The abuse began after the priest asked the boy to do some work in the garden of the presbytery, when he was 12 years old. There were no incidents for around six to eight weeks but then Nolan began asking him awkward questions and offering him money to do certain things.
On a number of occasions the priest molested him and told him afterwards it was "all part of growing up".
When he was first raped, the man said the pain was horrendous and he begged Nolan loads of times to stop. He said he felt dirty, sick and violated. He described feeling shame and self loathing and said he had tried to kill himself a number of times.
In his victim impact evidence read by prosecuting counsel, Paul Murray, the man said his childhood was the stuff nightmares were made of and he was still haunted by it.
He said he was singled out and, he now knew, groomed by a man in a position of trust. He said he was robbed of a normal childhood and struggled to hold down jobs. He had suffered years of irreparable damage, he said.
However, he said he was proud of himself because he eventually got courage to come forward. He felt better than he had for a long time and felt he could start to move forward with the help of his family and his partner.
Defence barrister, Justin McQuade said he had been instructed by Nolan to make a public apology to the victim and his family.
He had also been instructed to extend the apology to the entire community, whose trust he breached in the most egregious manner.
Mr McQuade said Nolan accepted that his offending was a complete and utter betrayal of everything he stood for.
The court was told that Nolan joined the seminary after leaving school at 19 and was ordained at the age of 27.
Mr McQuade said Nolan had lacked insight into how his behaviour had harmed others but as a result of engaging in therapy now had insight into his behaviour.
Nolan has 25 previous convictions relating to two other boys and has been in custody since 2014.
He was convicted of 20 charges at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court relating to offences committed between 2009 and 2011.
He was subsequently found guilty at the Central Criminal court of five further offences of rape and sexual assault against a different boy between 2006 and 2014.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison, reduced to six years on appeal.
Judge O’Connor told the young man he should be proud of the stand he had taken.
She said she hoped he would be able to reflect on what he had achieved and the strength and courage that had brought him to where he was today.
His courage would encourage others to come forward, she added.
Judge O'Connor also urged him to remember that he had been subjected to horrific abuse at a young age.
He did not have a lack of courage, she said, he was a child taken advantage of by a person in a powerful position. She said he was getting great support from the very strong women around him.
Nolan will be sentenced next month.
