Registered sex offender jailed and ordered to have no contact with teens

Olivia Kelleher

A 51-year-old registered sex offender has been jailed for nine months for a series of offences whilst being ordered not to watch or beset females or to have any contact with teenagers for 15 years.

Anthony Quigley from Roches Heights, Mitchelstown, Co Cork appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court having previously pleaded guilty to engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature following an incident in his hometown last year.

Det Garda David Barry told Judge Dermot Sheehan that Mr Quigley approached a 63-year-old woman on Upper Cork Street in Mitchelstown on March 15th, 2024.

He put his arm around her neck and asked her “Do you want to have sex with me?”

Det Garda Barry said that Quigley had committed another offence in November of last year when he failed to give a proper name and address to gardaí.

He is required to give this information to gardai under the terms of the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Act 2023.

The court heard that Mr Quigley was placed on the Sex Offenders register seven years ago. However, when he was stopped by gardaí in Cork city city he gave them ID which had the name of James Anthony Quigley. He also gave gardai a house number in his park which was not his own.

Det Garda Barry indicated that both these offences represented a breach of conditions attached to a three-year sentence with 18 months suspended which Quigley received in 2019 having harassed teenagers on a bus the previous year.

Mr Quigley has 66 previous convictions. These include two convictions for sexual assault, nine for harassment, 15 for indecent communications, five for assault and one for assault causing harm. Det Garda Barry added that 16 of the convictions were for public order offences.

Defence barrister, John Devlin BL made a plea for leniency in the case.

He said his client had apologised for his actions during his garda interview. Mr Devlin also indicated that Mr Quigley had sustained a head injury in a crash when he was a teenager which had impacted his mental capacity and impaired his memory and speech.

However, in jailing Quigley for nine months Judge Sheehan noted that the accused had a long history of sexual offences dating back over 25 years.

“He has a history. That is what is concerning me. He does not seem to appreciate the seriousness of what is going on.”

Meanwhile, a civil application was also brought against Mr Quigley. The court heard that complaints were lodged that the defendant had made sexual comments to teenagers. Judge Sheehan was asked to restrict Mr Quigley’s movements.

Barrister Helen O’Driscoll said that Mr Quigley had “acted on one or more occasions” in a way that caused concern to gardai. The court heard that a school principal had complained to gardai about the behaviour of the accused

Judge Sheehan granted an order that for the next 15 years Quigley would have no contact with persons under the age of 18, not take up employment that would give him access to children or come within 50 metres of a school.

He was also ordered not to watch or beset any females or to engage in any sexually explicit conversation with them.

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