IRELAND
Irish Independent
Sonya McLean
PUBLISHED
19/07/2016
Former “singing” priest Tony Walsh has been jailed for seven and half years for raping a boy three times, once with a crucifix.
Anthony Walsh (62) committed the offence at a time when the maximum penalty for this offence, then legally termed indecent assault, was two years.
But on Tuesday Judge Elma Sheahan used her discretion to impose consecutive sentences.
The Criminal Law (Rape) Amendment 1990 increased the maximum penalty for sexually assaulting a child under 17 to 14 years.
He forced the child to have sex twice, once in the parochial house in his parish and on another occasion in a tunnel under the Phoenix Park. He also used a crucifix to rape the boy.
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