UK man who travelled here for sex with girl, 15, jailed

A UK resident who repeatedly travelled to Dublin to have sex with an underage teenage girl has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

The Central Criminal Court heard the then 25-year-old man and the 16-year-old became engaged at one point, and that he told gardaí he was in love with her.

Judge Paul Coffey said it wasn’t love and that the man was satisfying his sadistic urges by exploiting ‘a mere child’.

The man met the girl online in mid2016 and began travelling here to have sex with her. She was 15 when he first had sex with her and they continued to meet for sex after she turned 16.

The pair met in hotel rooms and he recorded some of the sexual encounters on his phone. The offending came to light when the girl arrived home inebriated, having spent time drinking with the man.

Her mother took her phone and found thousands of text messages between her and the man.

The court heard that after the offending came to light, the child’s mother began to text his client. The court heard that in one text, which was not ultimately sent, the man wrote: ‘I’d do anything for your daughter even if that means serving a sentence. I realise I’m putting myself in danger and if you want to send details to police, fine.’

In July 2017, he asked the child’s mother to meet him ‘face to face to explain his affection, to rescue the relationship’, Mr Bowman said. The mother arranged a meeting in Dublin city centre and informed gardaí, who were waiting to arrest him.

The man, with an address in Manchester, was charged with 67 offences. He pleaded guilty to 11 sample counts of serial defilement of a minor on various dates in 2016 and 2017. He also admitted two counts of travelling with the purpose of exploitation of a child and one count of production of child pornography.

The judge imposed a five-year sentence with six months suspended.