Courts / Dublin / Report
Online sting by vigilante group saw sex offender 'bundled' to garda station
Summary
Michael Macken pleaded guilty to sample charges after online conversations with accounts he believed belonged to nine young girls, who were actually adults in a vigilante sting operation.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Online sting by vigilante group saw sex offender 'bundled' to garda station. Charges or matters: nine counts of communicating with a person with the intention to facilitate sexual exploitation of a child and pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a number of sample counts; a single sample count. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial
When:
- August 2024 Hearing Or Sentence
- February 21, 2025 Adjournment
- May 14 Adjournment
- 2026-03-02 Publication
Why: The Facebook accounts were actually adults pretending to be young teens in order to expose potential child predators and the "children" did not exist. CNI source report
Case subjects
Accused
Charges: nine counts of communicating with a person with the intention to facilitate sexual exploitation of a child and pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a number of sample counts; a single sample count (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Orla Crowe adjourned sentencing until May 14, when she will also hear a full plea of mitigation from defending counsel.
Places mentioned
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- drove him to the garda station
- order incident outside the garda station
Topics
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