American teen girls 'encouraged' by Midlands man to make and send him sexual videos and pictures
Tom Tuite
A Midlands man used a fake Facebook profile to "encourage" teen girls in the United States to make and send him hundreds of sexually explicit videos and images, a court heard.
The "introvert", in his early 30s, appeared before Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday.
Following a defence request, Judge Keenan Johnson asked the media to "exercise discretion" at this stage and not reveal the man's name.
He will be sentenced in July.
At least four victims were identified after his phone, social media account and online activity were analysed.
The man pleaded guilty that from October 10th, 2015, until September 30th, 2018, he knowingly encouraged the production of child pornography and remains on bail.
Mullingar Garda Station was contacted by colleagues in the online child protection unit based in Harcourt Square, Dublin, in 2018.
Garda James Grogan said they were alerted to a Facebook account under a different name and linked to two email accounts.
Efforts were made to trace the user, leading to the accused's IP address and then his home.
The Facebook profile had obtained sexually explicit images of multiple teenage girls.
The defendant's laptop and mobile phone were examined, resulting in 700 to 1,000 images and 30 videos of child abuse material being found.
He had used a fake account name because he had been "blocked" on Facebook under his own identity.
All of the girls were believed to be between 15 and 18 years old and in America.
Chat logs revealed that the girls produced the videos and images due to his encouragement.
The garda agreed with prosecutor Cathal Ó Braonáin BL, instructed by the State solicitor for Westmeath, Matt Shaw, that the accused cooperated with the investigation.
The charge is under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 and carries a maximum 14-year sentence.
The judge heard the man suffered from significantly low self-esteem and weight problems but had focused on work and was well-educated.
The court heard he set up a false social media profile "with a view to connecting with people," which soon developed to chatting with girls aged 15 or 16 years.
He received "self-produced" child pornography images and videos.
The court heard that this often arose as a result of his requests. At least four named victims were identified during the investigation.
Questioned by John Hayden SC, defending, the garda confirmed that there was no evidence that he had not distributed the material.
The defence said the accused, who had no prior convictions, was in his early to mid-twenties at the time.
The judge also noted the delay in having the man's phone examined.
The garda agreed with the defence that the accused, who is a single man, had no social life, was an introvert and had low confidence. He garda said the accused had image issues, and his life revolved around his work routine and attempts to lose weight.
He agreed with Mr Hayden that the man did not present as a person with the maturity of his age at the time of the offending, and he would have been "a few years behind".
The court heard he was very well respected in his work and has shown some insight into his behaviour.
Judge Johnson heard that the material was self-taken by the girls during "back and forth" exchanges with the accused, but he knew they were underage, and he encouraged them to send the pictures and videos.
Mr Hayden said the need for a risk assessment arose but stressed his client, who did not address the court, seemed to have moved on and "accepts it was all wrong".
Strictly speaking, counsel acknowledged, it was not an in camera matter.
However, Mr Hayden said his client was concerned about being named. He asked the media, at this point, to exercise some discretion, given that he worked in a well-known business in the community.
Judge Johnson asked reporters to exercise discretion but said this was very much dependent, going forward, on the risk assessment phase of preparing the pre-sentence probation report.
