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These cases usually begin with devices being seized, and often with an arrest that the person did not see coming.
Sending sexual messages or images to somebody underage, arranging to meet, or requesting images. Under Section 8 (1) of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 it is an offence for “A person who by means of information and communication technology communicates with another person (including a child) for the purpose of facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child by that person or any other person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years” It is also an offence under Section 8 (2) to send sexually explicit material to a child and a person guilty of this offence faces a maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment.
Some cases begin with an online decoy, either a Garda operation or a self-appointed group. Where the person on the other end was never a child, the legal position is the same, the communication does not need to be with a child specifically, it merely needs to be communication which purpose is that of child sexual exploitation.
Phones and computers are usually seized and examined. Examination takes months, and the wait is one of the hardest parts for families. Do not delete anything. Deleting is recoverable, it is visible, and it becomes a separate difficulty.
Where an accusation has come from a self-appointed group, there is often pressure to respond, explain or meet. Anything said to them can end up online and in the file.
086 076 2191.
