Jailed: man, 45, who sent explicit texts to person he believed was a 14-year-old girl
He was actually messaging a decoy on social media
A MAN has been jailed for sending explicit messages to someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl.
Keith Redmond, 45, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to attempting, by electronic means, to disseminate sexually explicit material to a child between August 30 and December 3, 2022.
Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Orla Crowe said this offending took place over three months and described the charge as ‘inherently serious’.
Judge Crowe said the aggravating factors before the court were that Redmond moved the conversation to a private platform when he was aware the decoy was 14 years of age.
There were 83 pages of sexually explicit conversation, and Redmond, of Clearstream Court, McKee Avenue, Finglas, Dublin, sent four pictures of his penis to the decoy. The judge said she would consider the following as mitigating factors in the case: his early guilty plea, his admissions, and the fact that he gave up his phone to gardaí.
Redmond has no previous convictions. He was a married father but has now lost his marriage and his job. In a letter written by Redmond, he outlined his shame and remorse.
Judge Crowe said the threshold for a custodial sentence had been passed. She sentenced Redmond to two years in prison, with six months suspended. She also placed him under the supervision of the Probation Service for one year post-release. She further ordered that Redmond have no unsupervised access to children.
At a previous hearing, the court heard the alarm was raised by a UK-based group called Volunteers for Predator Exposure, which seeks out people who attempt to communicate with children by creating decoys and waiting to see if the decoy is contacted.
In this case, the group created a decoy called ‘Amber’, a 14-yearold girl living in Leeds in the UK.
The court heard that Redmond had put his details on a social media platform called Kick as ‘male, 44, from Ireland’ and that the decoy, ‘Amber’, had connected with him.
During her plea in mitigation, Anne Rowland, defending, told Judge Crowe that this case should cause the court concern.
She said her client had posted a profile on a widely used website that was not dedicated to pornography or underage children, without seeking to contact anyone underage and a message had come to him.
She said her client had been approached by a UK-based person seeking out predators who are abusing or seeking to exploit underage girls. She said this was not the case with her client.
Ms Rowland said her client did not set out to look for an underage girl and there was no evidence that he did.
She submitted that he indicated to a probation officer that he was playing out a fantasy and there would never be a meeting. She said her client had not shown up for an arranged meeting and contact was again initiated by the decoy following two weeks of ‘radio silence’ from her client.
Ms Rowland said she had a concern this was bordering on entrapment and the court could take that into account in sentencing.
She submitted that while her client feels ashamed and remorseful, there was not a ‘real person’ involved or being abused. She said a probation report before the court wrongly said he had initiated the contact but pointed out that an assessment in the report places him at low risk of reoffending.
Garda Tracey O’Reilly told Karl Moran, prosecuting, that within a few messages, Redmond asked ‘Amber’ what age she was and she replied that she was 14.
Ms Rowland pointed out that Redmond then replied: ‘OK, I’m a bit too old for you’, whereupon the decoy replied: ‘It’s up to you’, and Redmond answered: ‘Add me so.’
The court heard that Redmond then requested that the conversation move to the private messaging service WhatsApp.
Redmond and the decoy proceeded to text one another over the following three months, the court heard.
The chat initially comprised ordinary conversation but became sexually explicit.
Redmond sent the decoy four photographs of his penis on dates in November 2022. He also sent selfies of his face and tattoos.
On one occasion, Redmond texted: ‘I don’t care that you’re 14, I like you lots.’
The court heard that the UK group located the person making contact with their decoy and then got in touch with a similar Irish group. Members of this group located Redmond on a laneway near Manor Street in Dublin 7 and there were ‘angry scenes’, the court heard, before gardaí were called and Redmond asked for Garda protection.
Ms Rowland told the court that members of the UK group Predator Exposure were tried in the UK for false imprisonment last year.
‘OK, I’m a bit too old for you’