Sharon’s not the only star targeted online
THIS week, a Dublin man was jailed for three years for harassing RTÉ newsreader Sharon Ní Bheoláin and possessing child pornography, in a case described by Judge Martin Nolan as ‘reprehensible’.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Conor O’Hora, 41, of Heather Walk, Portmarnock, uploaded 32 modified photos of Ms Ní Bheoláin.
Over a year ago, the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed gardaí were investigating the use of images of Irish celebrities which had been superimposed onto other bodies on pornography sites.
Mocked-up porn images of RTÉ stars were also found by gardai during an investigation into the stealing of images from 19-year-old Katie Kirwan’s Facebook account, and other girls. This led to gardaí finding images of Rachel Allen, Amy Huberman, Miriam O’Callaghan, Jenny Greene, Kathryn Thomas, Anne Cassin, Claire Byrne, Vogue Williams, Colette Fitzpatrick, Nuala Carey and Lucy Kennedy superimposed onto images of naked women.
The court heard O’Hora said he had ‘no particular malice, just a fixation’ towards the RTÉ host. ‘It’s not something I’m proud of, it’s a fantasy thing,’ he told gardaí.
‘It’s ridiculous to think she’d have any interest in me.’