Bărbat condamnat cu suspendare pentru trimiterea mesajelor sexuale către un ofițer sub acoperire care se prezenta drept adolescentă

A WESTMEATH MAN who sent sexualised messages to an undercover PSNI operative posing as a 13-year-old girl has been handed a four-year suspended sentence.
Former Office of Public Works (OPW) employee Kevin Smyth (58) of Dublin Road, Castlepollard, had pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to charges under the 2017 Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act on dates in 2021.
Finalising the case, Judge Keenan Johnson said the accused had been motivated by an unhealthy preoccupation with deviant sexual acts and the offences involved a grooming type of activity.
A report from psychologist Dr Catherine Norton stated that Mr Smyth was at a low risk of reoffending if he continued specialist counselling. Mr Smyth had also said he had been abused at a young age, and the perpetrator diA Westmeath man who sent sexualised messages to an undercover PSNI operative posing as a 13-year-old girl has been handed a four-year suspended sentence.
Former Office of Public Works (OPW) employee Kevin Smyth (58) of Dublin Road, Castlepollard, had pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to charges under the 2017 Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act on dates in 2021.
Finalising the case, Judge Keenan Johnson said the accused had been motivated by an unhealthy preoccupation with deviant sexual acts and the offences involved a grooming type of activity.
A report from psychologist Dr Catherine Norton stated that Smyth was at a low risk of reoffending if he continued specialist counselling. Smyth had also said he had been abused at a young age, and the perpetrator died before facing trial, which had an impact on him.
The first charge stated that on 15 July, he attempted to intentionally cause a child to look at an image of himself engaging in sexual activity, for sexual gratification, or corrupting a child.
He also admitted attempting to use information and communication technology applications, Skype and WhatsApp, to facilitate child sexual exploitation between 29 June and 8 July, and from 8 July until 19 July.
Mr Smyth, who worked in river cleaning, also pleaded guilty to attempting to invite a child to sexual touching on 30 June.
His online pornography addiction escalated into an interest in child abuse material and led to Mr Smyth seeking out what he believed was a 13-year-old girl.
The pre-sentence report expressed concern that the man minimised his behaviour because it did not occur “in real life.”
The judge rejected that and held that Mr Smyth was equally culpable because he had no idea that it was not a real child.
However, he noted there was no evidence of any prior crimes and that the offences occurred over a short period.
It emerged that Mr Smyth suffered significant personal consequences since the offending came to light, including losing his OPW job, depression and isolation from his family.
A character reference stated that Mr Smyth had previously been involved in sports and the Tidy Towns initiative.
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The judge imposed concurrent fou