Man texted 'sexual pictures' of stepdaughter to woman
A 44-year-old man pleaded guilty yesterday to making grossly offensive communications by phone in which details were given of disturbing sexual fantasies,
He admitted that he sent by telephone a message that was grossly offensive on three separate dates, namely, January 29, 2014, February 2, and February 9. The accused is not identified for legal reasons.
Inspector Ronan Kennelly said the charges represented sample counts out of 27 charges.
“An allegation referring to possession of child pornography was made to gardaí by a woman on February 17, 2014,” said Inspector Kennelly.
“She gave a detailed account of communication she had via a mobile phone with the accused.
“During these communications, he referred to engaging in sexual acts with his stepdaughter, aged 17, and with a young male.
“He texted pictures with sexual content and indicated that the pictures were of his stepdaughter.
“Garda Aoife Hayes met with the defendant at the Bridewell Garda Station.
“In the interview, he stated that the sexual relationship he had with his stepdaughter was a fantasy and the pictures he sent were taken from social media accounts without her permission.
“He did this using spyware software which he had installed on her phone.”
Inspector Kennelly said it appeared from the investigation that the accused had used social media pictures of his stepdaughter. He downloaded images of a sexual nature and sent both to a woman in phone communications and texts. This woman made the complaint to gardaí, which sparked the investigation.
The inspector said the HSE and gardaí had both extensively investigated the matter and there was no question of any sexual assaults or anything of that nature.
Defence solicitor Robert O’Keeffe confirmed that the parties were no longer living in the same house. Inspector Kennelly confirmed that the case had been investigated thoroughly from a risk perspective.
Sentencing was adjourned to allow time for the preparation of a probation report on the accused.
