Courts / Dublin / Report
Humphries sent thousands of text messages to teenage girl before meeting for sex acts
Summary
Tom Humphries, a former sports journalist aged 54, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit act and two counts of defilement of a 16‑year‑old girl between January 2010 and March 2011. The court heard that Humphries first contacted the girl through his volunteer work with junior GAA teams and sent her thousands of text messages, some of which were sexually explicit. In December 2010 he met the girl at his flat, stripped her, performed oral sex on her and had her perform oral sex on him. The court noted that the girl was aware of the texts and that the offending was discovered when Humphries' daughter found the messages on an old phone. Humphries was hospitalized after a suicide attempt and later transferred to St Patrick's mental health hospital where he made another attempt.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Humphries sent thousands of text messages to teenage girl before meeting for sex acts. Charges or matters: four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit, obscene or indecent act between January 2010 and March 2011; two counts of defilement of the child at a place in Dublin between December 5, 2010 and February 19, 2011. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial
When:
- January 2010 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 5, 2010 Hearing Or Sentence
- February 19, 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 2010 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 2008 Other
- February 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 24 Adjournment
- New Years Day 2010 Other
- 2017-10-03 Publication
Why: Medical reports stated that Humphries continued to present a very real suicide risk and that he didn't want psychiatric treatment because he felt that "he deserved to feel psychological pain". CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit, obscene or indecent act between January 2010 and March 2011; two counts of defilement of the child at a place in Dublin between December 5, 2010 and February 19, 2011 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Karen O'Connor said she needed time to consider all the evidence in the case and adjourned sentencing to October 24.
Places mentioned
Topics
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