Sex offender 'befriended' 10-year-old Midlands girl on Snapchat

TULLAMORE Circuit Court heard how a 32-year-old man “befriended” a 10-year-old Midlands girl on Snapchat and sent her messages and an image of a sexual nature.

The man, who is from a different part of Leinster from the girl and who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in April to an offence under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017.

He then appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson where a detective sergeant, replying to William Fennelly, BL, prosecuting, gave evidence that gardai received a phone call in March 2022 from the mother of the child.

The evidence was that after befriending the 10-year-old on Snapchat the girl received a message from a person unknown to her saying “How are you sexy?”

The girl asked who the individual was and the reply was that she was “sexy” and the mother took the phone from her daughter and immediately found that she knew the person who was communicating with the girl, having been in contact with him a number of years previously.

After the mother took the phone the man made video calls to it and made various videos and sent messages with “Show me you”.

When the man persisted in making video calls, which were not answered, the woman rang a garda station.

She also made screenshots and recordings of what was coming through and they indicated that the man had asked “Are you up for a video?”, said “Stop being shy”, “Don't be talking, come on video”.

The garda said: “It was a over a short period but it was constant messages within that period.”

In one video the man showed his face and moved the phone down and his penis could be seen.

The man did not know it was the child's mother who had the phone by then. After initially pretending to be a child she said she was 15 and then reduced her age to 10 in the hope the contact would be stopped.

Then the mother identified herself and asked the man what he was doing “in not too polite language”.

When the gardai began an investigation following the report from the woman they took a brief statement from the child and it confirmed what had happened.

The man's home was searched and his phone was seized and analysed but there was no record of Snapchat on it.

The court heard a relative had wiped the phone because they thought they were acting in his best interest.

When the accused man was detained and interviewed he exercised his right to silence.

The court was told he had 78 previous convictions and the most serious one was for aggravated sexual assault in 2013 when he received a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, two-and-a-half years of which were suspended.

There were also convictions for harassment and stalking plus quite a number of road traffic matters, theft and burglary and criminal damage.

He was on bail at the time of the offence now before the court and had on one occasion failed to notify his name and address under the Sex Offenders Act.

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In a victim impact statement the child's mother said “luckily enough” her daughter did not see anything because the phone had been taken from her after the got the message from the unknown male.

However, the girl, now aged 13, was aware the matter was coming to court and was afraid and nervous walking to school that she would be approached by the man.

A “quiet and good young girl”, she had no phone for two years because of the incident and wanted the door of the house locked to make her feel safe.

Her parents now constantly checked her phone and her mother said it “breaks my heart” to see her daughter so nervous.

Replying to counsel for the accused man, the investigating detective sergeant agreed the defendant had schizophrenia and had very significant cognitive issues.

The court was also told the man now had a “brick phone” so he had no access to social media on it.

At the time of the offence he was also supposed to have a brick phone but he did manage to get one which social media platforms could be put on.

The people he was adding on Snapchat all seemed to be young people.

The man subsequently said he was “really sick” at the time of the offending and had spent a period in a psychiatric unit.

Mr Fennelly said the maximum sentence applicable for the class of offence before the court was two years.

Judge Johnson said the offence was very serious and the man had a serious previous conviction for a sexual offence.

He adjourned finalisation of sentencing to October 10 next and ordered the man to enter into a €500 bond to have no contact with the victim or her mother and adhere strictly to the terms of the sex offenders register.

The man is to have no access to any social media account and the judge indicated that his behaviour could not go unpunished.

“This gentleman is an absolute pest,” he said.

A report on the offender is awaited and Judge Johnson said he would conclude sentencing prior to October if it becomes available to the court.