Found to have hundreds of obscene photographs of minors on several devices, a clergyman, Reverend Nigel Cahill Port Talbot Paedophile, has been informed he failed his parishioners “horrendously”.
On June 25 last year, Swansea Crown Court heard how police executed a warrant at the house of Reverend Canon Nigel Cahill, who held a “prominent and trusted role” as the rector of Aberavon and the parish priest at St Agnes Church in Port Talbot after authorities were informed that an image of a child had been uploaded from an internet source at The Rectory.
“I was online talking to someone looking at pictures of grown men and younger men,” he told cops. I have this issue; when I’m stressed, I drink and view images online. Denying it would not be helpful.”
Once entered, detectives found many online accounts within many devices retrieved from Nigel Cahill. “None of these people exist, by the way; they are all aliases,” Nigel Cahill of Forge Road, Port Talbot, further informed officials.
Once digitally investigated, the devices revealed three Category B photos (non-penetrative sexual activity) and 216 Category C images of children. After his arrest, police searches turned up another house Nigel Cahill had access to in the Cardiff region. Another gadget found included obscene pictures and a sexualised Skype conversation.
Cahill agreed the devices belonged to him and then said he “had a problem that had blighted his life”, but he would not answer any more questions since he was in a “highly emotional state”.
Having earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of creating indecent images of a child – 216 in Category C between July 22, 2016, and June 26, 2020, and a further three in Category B between February 2, 2016, and June 26, 2020, Swansea Crown Court sentenced.
Mitigating, Jon Tarrant said: “On a pro-rata basis, slightly over 1% of the photographs were Category B. The charges likewise span four years, and in the framework of many instances before the court, they fall at the lower end. Ten months have gone by now since the committing of these crimes, and his universe has collapsed. His relationship with the church has suffered, and he knows how his wrongdoing affects his neighbourhood. One could see his regret. There is no uncertainty; he adopted his stance from the beginning.”
Since Nigel Cahill’s offence, Mr Tarrant also mentioned that he had sought assistance from The Lucy Faithful Foundation, the only child safety agency with offices across the United Kingdom committed to stopping child sexual abuse.
“He was highly regarded in his neighbourhood, 61 years old, of clean character. Now, Mr. Tarrant said, that is destroyed.
Sentencing Nigel Cahill, Judge Paul Thomas QC remarked: “You are, Mr Nigel Cahill, a clever man who always realised how terrible it was you were looking at these disgraceful photos.
“It’s commendable that after your arrest, you sought help from Lucy Faithful organisation; it would have reflected better on you if you had done so before your arrest.”
Judge Thomas warned Nigel Cahill that “people looked upon him for moral and spiritual guidance, and he failed them horribly”.
Nigel Cahill was sentenced to an 18-month community order and had a 45-day rehabilitation activity. He has to sign the five-year sex offenders register and a sexual offences prevention order for the same period. Concerning the devices, a forfeiture and destruction order has been issued.
Following an earlier stage of Nigel Cahill’s prosecution, the Church in Wales made a statement saying it was “deeply saddened and shocked that one of its priests has committed such a serious offence”.
Said another way: “We pray for all the victims of child abuse. After his sentence, Mr Nigel Cahill will be submitted to the Church in Wales’ disciplinary tribunal, which will convene immediately to review the charge of behaviour providing just grounds for scandal or outrage. He stays suspended from all responsibilities.
Said the statement, the acts had been “committed despite our stringent safeguarding policies and procedures”.
The church’s statement continued: “Mr Nigel Cahill used the confidence and respect placed in him as a cleric by the Church in Wales and by his parishioners, and that will have long-term consequences. We appreciate the sensitive and thorough quality of the officers’ enquiries; we have entirely cooperated with them throughout the inquiry.
“The Church in Wales has no room for any abuse. Protecting and caring for children and vulnerable community members come first for us. For this reason, we routinely go over our safeguarding policies and offer thorough training.”
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