Donegal man jailed for sexually exploiting child

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

A Donegal man was jailed for 12 months for sexually exploiting a child at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 17 February 2017. The proceedings were reported on 17 February 2017.

He pleaded guilty to one count of sexually exploiting a child. The offence occurred in a Dublin apartment between 3 and 4 January 2015, after he met the 15-year-old girl through a youth mental health website. A second count of meeting a child for the purpose of child exploitation was taken into account.

Judge Melanie Greally said the court was dealing with consensual but wholly age-inappropriate sexual activity. She said it did not appear the man had set out with predatory intentions. In sentencing him, she considered his guilty plea, good character and testimonials, remorse, personal difficulties and the fact that he was at a particularly low point in his life at the time.