A 40-YEAR-OLD Clare man sent a lewd image of himself to a female “public figure”, a court has heard.
At Ennis District Court, the man has pleaded guilty to sending lewd pictures of himself to three “random” females in Limerick, Dublin, and Kerry and committing a solo sex act on an early Galway to Limerick train service.
One of the injured parties, who witnessed the man masturbating on the 6.15am Galway to Limerick service on February 20, 2023, recorded the incident and gave the video to Gardaí, the court heard.
Judge Alec Gabbett remarked that one of the women to receive a lewd image “is a public figure”.
The judge asked that victim impact statements be provided, commenting that the women viewing the images would not forget what they had seen for a long time. He said that the accused “needs to understand that these are very, very serious charges and have the capacity to damage someone’s life”.
Judge Gabbett said a probation report handed into court confirms that vigilantes “have come upon the man”.
He ruled that, due to “vigilante behaviour” and out of concern for the personal safety of the accused, reporting restrictions would continue in the case, noting that the man had stated that “vigilantes are after me”.
“That troubles me greatly, people taking law into their own hands which they shouldn’t do,” Judge Gabbett said.
Solicitor for the accused, Stiofan Fitzpatrick, said that the accused is facing charges of a similar nature in Dublin – including ones of attempting to send explicit material to and sexually exploit a child online.
Judge Gabbett said that “the biggest concern I have here is the issue of the pattern of harmful exhibitionist behaviour”, noting that the accused by his own admission “has this compulsion”.
A probation officer told Judge Gabbett that her report has recommended a therapeutic programme dealing with individuals who have sexually harmful behaviours.
Mr Fitzpatrick told the court that his client “has lost a lot”, that his client lives in a rural area and is isolated.
“He has withdrawn from society. He is not working at present and he has a lot of personal shame and embarrassment over what has happened,” Mr Fitzpatrick said, adding that his client no longer has a smartphone.
Mr Fitzpatrick said that his client sourced the phone numbers of the three women he sent images to from Instagram. He said that his client “has expressed a willingness to address his harmful behaviour”.
Judge Gabbett adjourned sentencing for the victim impact statements and to allow the case in Dublin against the accused to advance.
The offence on the train in February 2023 came only nine days before the man made his first appearance in court on March 1, 2023, concerning sending lewd images of himself to females.
In relation to the first offence, the man randomly selected a County Kerry woman’s phone number before sending her a lewd image of himself on October 16, 2020.
The man also pleaded guilty that, on May 1, 2021, he intentionally engaged in offensive conduct of a sexual nature by sending an image of his erect penis via WhatsApp to a female living in Limerick, in such a manner to cause fear, distress, or alarm to another person.
He also pleaded guilty to, on May 4, 2021, sending an image of his erect penis via WhatsApp to another woman living in Dublin.
The charges are contrary to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, where a maximum sentence of six months in the District Court applies.
