Teenage girl to face trial for sharing images of child sexual abuse

A 13-year-old girl had dozens of child sexual abuse videos and images in a computer account and wrote a diary about her interest in the rape, torture and murder of children, a court has heard.

Gardaí commenced an investigation into her online activities four years ago with assistance from US and Canadian authorities.

The girl, now aged 17, who cannot be identified as she is a minor, appeared at Dublin Children’s Court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing to decide her trial venue.

She has been charged under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act with allegedly possessing 78 images and 72 videos containing visual representations of a child engaged in explicit sexual activities. The material was allegedly stored in a Dropbox account.

She is accused of having a handwritten diary with drawings and text defined as child sexual abuse images. The third charge is possessing the material in late 2016 in a Dropbox account for sharing.

The Director of Public Prosecutions recommended that she face “trial on indictment” in the Circuit Circuit, which can impose lengthier sentences.

‘Harrowing background’

Solicitor Eoghan O’Sullivan, defending, cited his client’s age, “harrowing background” and the four years it has taken to charge her. He pleaded for her case to be kept in the Children’s Court.

Det Garda Cathal Connolly told the court the girl came to a Dublin Garda station with her mother when she was 13 and freely offered information about her Dropbox account. She allegedly used it to store and share child sexual abuse images with a youth in Munster who later abused a child sexually.

The material featured children, from infants to teenagers, being raped, sexually assaulted and suffering verbal and physical abuse by adult males. Gardaí later searched her home and recovered the diary.

Det Garda Connolly described it as a journal with drawings and text about her interests in the rape, torture and killing of prepubescent girls and infants. It allegedly featured commentary and drawings of child mutilation.

Gardaí interviewed the girl when she was 14 and she allegedly admitted to sharing the material “with like-minded people online” and having child abuse ideation. The garda alleged the girl saw children “as sexual objects that should be harmed and murdered”.

US and Canadian authorities obtained evidence from Dropbox, Facebook and Kik, a messenger app, the court heard. Garda computer crime staff then assessed and classified the material.

Pleading with the judge to accept jurisdiction, Mr O’Sullivan furnished the court with a welfare report with “harrowing background details” and an account of her time in care.

However, Judge Teresa Kelly refused jurisdiction and adjourned the case until November.