Dublin girl (17) admits harassing teacher and possessing 718 child sexual abuse images
Tom Tuite
A teenage girl sent one of her teachers dozens of "distressing" threats and sexualised content before a Garda search uncovered hundreds of abuse images on her phone, a court has heard.
The troubled 17-year-old, who cannot be named because she is a juvenile, pleaded guilty to harassing the woman while using a litany of Instagram accounts and possessing a total of 718 child sexual abuse images over two months in 2024, but avoided a custodial sentence.
She was aged 15 at the time with a history of social media difficulties, school bullying, and mental health issues.
At the Dublin Children's Court on Thursday, Judge Paul Kelly said it was a pity she took it out on the teacher in what he described as a distressing case.
The court heard how the girl employed pseudonyms to send messages, including faked suggestive images of the teacher, who was left in fear and has been attending counselling.
The complainant was present for the sentence hearing and provided what Judge Kelly described as a powerful victim impact statement; he praised her for bringing the harassment to the attention of the gardaí.
Finalising the case, Judge Kelly sentenced the girl, who has no prior criminal convictions, to 12 months supervised probation, tailored with conditions to divert her from reoffending.
Furthermore, she was banned from contacting the complainant for 10 years.
Dublin-based Garda Detective John Hayes told Judge Kelly that the teacher ignored the first message and reported it to the school.
Four days later, she received a private message from an account name using an insulting reference to the victim. The message was threatening, and she blocked the sender.
After another two days, in the early hours of the morning, she received 38 messages from two accounts, leaving her feeling "extremely threatened" by the escalation.
She reported it to gardaí, who went to the teen's home and spoke to her parents.
The girl admitted to sending the messages and handed over her phone. At that point, the teenager undertook to cease contacting the victim.
But later that month, the girl, using her mother's phone to set up another Instagram account, attempted to follow the complainant on the app.
Two days later, she contacted the teacher from another account, especially made to be visible only to the complainant.
The message read: "Come check my stories, you pussy, don't block me and hide, bitch, you can't hide from me."
The victim looked at the profile and discovered it featured images of her that had been altered in a sexually suggestive way.
There were also images and text that were threatening and abusive to her. Two days later, the complainant was again contacted and sent a video that had been altered, with photos of the complainant and had music playing from a pornographic website, as well as threats.
Analysis of the girl's own phone found 718 images of child sexual abuse material, 564 of which were designated as being "category 1", the most serious level. There were 146 category 2 and eight category 3 pictures.
During a garda interview, she was asked about one of the images, and she described it as "curiosity".
The court heard that she has not come to the attention of the gardaí, and there has been no further contact with the teacher.
In her pre-sentencing meetings with a probation officer, the girl had expressed that she admired and liked the teacher and wanted to befriend her.
In reply, the prosecution asserted that the complainant disputed this.
The teenager, accompanied to court by her father, did not address the proceedings.
The defence solicitor asked the judge to note the girl had not produced or shared any of the child sexual abuse images, which had been sent to her.
The court heard she was going through a difficult time when the offences happened and found more safety in using online devices, rarely going out.
She had received an autism diagnosis and was attending mental health services with family support.
A plea for leniency emphasised that she was remorseful, having entered a guilty plea when the case first came before the court two months ago, sparing the victim the ordeal of a trial and cross-examination.
A probation report recommended a bespoke set of conditions for the girl, which the judge crafted into his order.
In addition to the non-contact order, she must not reoffend for 12 months and attend a therapeutic service for young people who display harmful sexual behaviour.
The judge also ordered her to follow her probation officer's directions, including restorative justice or victim-focused interventions.
He also expressed his hope that she return to education, abide by the terms of the bond, and never come before the courts again.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
