David Hoban jailed for defiling 14-year-old girl in Dublin

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

David Hoban was sentenced to three years in prison by Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He pleaded guilty to two sample charges of defilement of a child by having intercourse and oral sex with a 14-year-old girl on dates in June 2015. The proceedings were reported on 26 April 2018.

Det Garda Paul O’Hara told prosecuting counsel Garrett McCormack BL that the teenager said she met Hoban three times and they had sex and oral sex on each occasion. The court heard they had met through social media and her profile indicated she was 20. O’Hara said it would have been obvious to Hoban when they met in person that she was underage.

Judge Nolan said Hoban should have stopped contact when he became aware of her youth at their first meeting. He said Hoban should have known his conduct was morally reprehensible and against the law. The judge accepted his guilty plea and true remorse.

WhatsApp messages read in court showed Hoban was aware the girl was underage. O’Hara said Hoban did not learn her actual age until the day of his arrest, and agreed with McCormack that the girl instigated most of the messages.