JOHN NUGENT'S SHOCKING REHABILITATION IN WEXFORD: TERRORIZING VICTIMS NEAR HOMES

In November 2020, a disturbing revelation emerged regarding the housing policies in Wexford, where authorities admitted they lack a formal approach to accommodating sex offenders. This admission came after the placement of convicted paedophile John Nugent, aged 76, in a residence within a mere 750 meters of one of his former victims' homes.

Wexford County Council, responding to inquiries from the Sunday World, stated that they do not have specific policies for housing sex offenders. A council spokesperson explained, “Wexford County Council does not have a particular housing policy that deals with housing sex offenders. In assessing the housing needs of an applicant, who has been convicted of criminality, we are not made aware of the details of any victims and therefore we are unable to take their location into account in our consideration of an applicant’s housing needs.”

Just two weeks prior, the Sunday World uncovered the unsettling story of John Nugent, a serial predator who had returned to Wexford town after serving time in prison. Nugent, who was released from Arbour Hill prison on Friday, November 13th, had served a three-year sentence for abusing three young sisters aged between six and fifteen over an eight-year period. His return to Wexford was marked by a visit to the offices of Wexford County Council, where he collected keys to a new flat in the town, raising serious concerns among the victims and the community.

One of Nugent’s victims, who had previously reported him to the Gardaí, was devastated to learn that he had been allocated a flat just 750 meters from her family home. “I feel sick that they have put him so close to me,” she told the Sunday World. “He is evil … and he is still dangerous. How can this be okay? He will walk across the top of my street every two days when he signs on at the Garda station.”

The horrific details of Nugent’s abuse, which came to light during his court case three years earlier, reveal a pattern of manipulation and cruelty. Nugent molested the three girls from the time they were as young as six until they reached twelve. During the trial, it was disclosed that he threatened one of the sisters with her parents’ death if she disclosed the abuse, and on another occasion, he told her, “if I let him he wouldn’t touch my sisters.”

At the time of the abuse, between 1987 and 1995, the girls lived nearby Nugent’s residence and would often run errands for him, including collecting money and buying cigarettes. One of the sisters recounted a chilling incident where Nugent pretended to have their youngest sister, then a toddler, in his house to lure her inside. She described how Nugent then locked the front door, threw her onto the sofa, and assaulted her, telling her there was no point in fighting and that he wouldn’t touch her sisters if she cooperated.

Nugent faced a total of 105 charges of indecent and sexual assault, to which he pleaded guilty to 38 counts. The remaining charges were considered in his sentencing. During his time in custody, Nugent was also sentenced to a concurrent one-year term for sexually assaulting a 56-year-old woman in Wexford while on bail for the abuse charges. The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, described her terror upon learning Nugent had been returned to the town. She recounted how he stalked her for months before attacking her in broad daylight, and how her fear prevented her from leaving her house.

She detailed her ordeal, explaining that Nugent would follow her around town, making inappropriate comments about her appearance. One day, in June, he grabbed her in broad daylight outside Flanagan’s of Wexford, assaulting her physically and sexually. “I was gobsmacked but I thought the best thing to do was just ignore him and I tried to avoid him,” she said. “Then one day I was walking by Flanagan’s of Wexford, it was approximately noon, broad daylight on a June day, and he grabbed me. I hadn’t seen him or I would have walked across to the other side of the street. But I didn’t see him and then I felt him grab me. He had one hand between my legs and one hand on my breast. And when I turned around it was him.”

She expressed her outrage at the decision to house Nugent in the town, emphasizing the lack of protective measures for victims. “Nothing is being done to protect us … his previous victims. There is nothing to protect the people that he could assault next. He has to sign on in the Garda station every two days but what is he going to be doing in between? He’s a creep … he’s just out for what he can get. No child, no woman, is safe as long as he is here in Wexford town,” she warned.

Further back in time, in November 2017, Nugent’s pattern of intimidation was highlighted when he threatened three young sisters, warning them that their parents would die if they revealed his abuse. At that time, Nugent, then aged 72, was convicted at Wexford Circuit Criminal Court of abusing the girls over more than eight years. The victims, now in their 30s, tearfully recounted how Nugent’s threats and manipulations had stolen their childhoods. His plea included 38 guilty counts out of 105 charges, with the rest taken into consideration.

One of the sisters described how Nugent pretended to have their youngest sibling, then a toddler, in his house to scare her into compliance. She recounted, “But she wasn’t in there and then he locked the front door and put the keys in his pocket. He grabbed me and threw me down on to the sofa and I hit my head off something. He told me there was no point in fighting it, that this is going to happen. He said if I let him he wouldn’t touch my sisters. Before he said that I was screaming and saying, ‘Let me go,’ but then I just lay there.”

Another sister reflected on the loss of innocence, saying, “I remember my Communion and feeling so special, like a princess in my dress. The feeling of being special was replaced with fear. He stole my childhood and any good memories I had.”

Judge Cormac Quinn ordered Nugent to remain in custody until the following Thursday, when he was scheduled for sentencing, underscoring the gravity of his crimes and the ongoing threat he poses to the community.