Courts

Man who engaged in sexually obscene video calls with someone he believed was a girl (14) is jailed

Gardaí contacted by group set up in the UK that creates decoys to seek out people who attempt to communicate with children

Patrick McInerney pleaded guilty to several charges. Photograph: Collins Courts
Patrick McInerney pleaded guilty to several charges. Photograph: Collins Courts
Sonya McLean
Tue Mar 19 2024 - 20:27

A man who engaged in sexually obscene video calls with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl has been jailed for 18 months.

Patrick McInerney (40) of Main Street, Kilkishen, Co Clare, pleaded guilty to using information technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child, sending explicit material and engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature on dates in February 2023.

Det Garda Tracey O’Reilly said gardaí were contacted by a group that had been set up in the United Kingdom to seek out people who attempt to communicate with children by creating decoys and waiting to see if the decoy is contacted.

Gardaí were told McInerney had been in communication with two people who he believed were 14-year-old girls. Two women had set up decoy Facebook profiles and McInerney had made contact with both girls online.

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The group had set up a meeting with McInerney and had alerted gardaí to the fact the meeting was taking place.

Det Garda O’Reilly said McInerney was arrested that day and his phone was seized and analysed.

She said it was clear from analysis of the phone that McInerney had sent a friend request to one of the decoys, who had clearly identified herself as a 14-year-old girl. He sent the friend request and then forwarded a photograph of his erect penis.

The decoy replied asking why he had sent such an image and said she was 11 years old. He didn’t have any further communication with this profile.

On February 27th, 2023, he made contact with the second decoy, who had also been set up as the profile of a 14-year-old girl on Facebook.

In this instance, McInerney completed three video calls, two of them through the medium of Facebook, during which he masturbated. He also requested and conducted a further video call with the decoy on WhatsApp.

Det Garda O’Reilly confirmed the videos were recorded and handed to gardaí. The face of the person who had taken McInerney’s calls was not shown during the video.

In another incident, McInerney made contact with a woman who was selling puppies online. After some communication with the woman, he sent her a photograph of his erect penis. He sent a similar image the following day and the woman blocked him.

The woman never made a complaint to gardaí and the offence was only discovered when gardaí carried out the analysis on McInerney’s phone.

Det Garda O’Reilly agreed with Richard Brady, defending, that McInerney made full admissions and provided gardaí with his passwords and any nicknames he used on his various social media accounts.

It was further accepted he no longer uses Facebook nor does he own a smartphone.

Mr Brady said a report from the Probation Service indicated a willingness to work with McInerney and outlined several recommended courses with which he could engage.

Judge Martin Nolan said McInerney had responded to decoys when it was apparent they were very young. He described the communication between them as “obscene in nature” and noted McInerney had engaged in similar conduct with an adult woman.

He accepted there was good mitigation in the case and there was hope for rehabilitation for McInerney but added, “he undoubtedly deserves to go to prison”.

The judge sentenced him to three years in prison with the final 18 months suspended on strict conditions.