Man posted intimate images of his teenage ex-girlfriend to social media
Isabel Hayes
A young man posted a collage of intimate images of his teenage girlfriend on social media to his 1,100 followers after they broke up, a court has heard.
The 20-year-old Dublin man, who can't be named to protect the identity of his victim, committed the offence in 2021 just “months” after it became a criminal offence to post intimate images of someone online without their consent, defence counsel told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of distributing intimate images of his ex-girlfriend without her consent within the State on September 21st, 2021. He has no previous convictions.
The man was 19 at the time of the offence, while his victim was 18. Some of the images he shared of her were taken when she was 17, Garda Mark Naul told the court.
The court heard that on the day in question, the man sent his ex-girlfriend's friend a collage of four intimate images that had been taken of her in the course of their relationship. The couple had dated for about a year before breaking up.
The man then posted the same collage of images on Snapchat, where he has 1,100 followers, the court heard.
Gardaí were alerted and the man was arrested in October 2021. He made full admissions to gardaí.
The woman in the case did not wish to come to court for the sentence hearing. A victim impact statement was handed in but not read out.
James McCullough BL, defending, said his client was “immature” and “naive”. He has ADHD and was under the care of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) until he turned 18, the court heard.
Once discharged from this service, he stopped taking his prescribed medication. He is someone who “acts without thinking of the consequences”, the court heard.
Defence counsel said that when the man committed this offence, the legislation making it a crime had only come into effect some months previously.
Judge Dara Hayes noted that regardless of when the legislation came into effect, “this is behaviour that shouldn't take place”.
The judge ordered a Probation Services report and adjourned the case for finalisation on March 27 next year.
