An Ennis court has heard that a 23-year-old Shannon man engaged in ‘appalling behaviour’ by uploading teenage girls’ Facebook picture to a pornographic site.
Judge Patrick Durcan described Evan Meehan’s actions as ‘lurid carry on’.
Mr Meehan of Dernish Lawn, Shannon has pleaded guilty to uploading 30 photos of local teenage girls to a pornographic site between October 2013 to the end of June 2014.
Clare FM’s Paul Quinn reports:
A judge said yesterday that a 23 year old Shannon man had engaged in “appalling behaviour” by uploading 19 girls’ Facebook profile pictures to a pornographic site.
At Ennis District Court, Judge Durcan described Evan Meehan’s offences as “lurid carry on”.
In the case, Mr Meehan of Dernish Lawn, Shannon has pleaded guilty to uploading 30 photos of local teenage girls to a pornographic site between October 2013 to the end of June 2014.
The 30 charges relate to 19 girls with 17 having Shannon addresses with two other girls living in the nearby villages of Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus.
All of the girls were Facebook friends of Mr Meehan while most went to the same secondary school in Shannon as him.
Mr Meehan acted alone in the crime and a number of the captions accompanying the photos described the girls engaging in various sexual acts with their fathers.
The offences took place during a period when Mr Meehan was aged 19 and 20.
The offences came to light after a number of girls presented themselves to Shannon Garda Station on June 30th 2014.
Mr Meehan has no previous convictions.
Judge Durcan told Mr Meehan’s solicitor yesterday, Stiofán Fitzpatrick that he was considering a prison sentence in the case, but he had persuaded him otherwise.
Judge Durcan said: “His behaviour was appalling.”
Mr Fitzpatick agreed and replied ‘absolutely’. However, Mr Fitzpatrick said that Mr Meehan was a young man at the time and the offences date back to 2013 and 2014.
Mr Fitzpatick said that Mr Meehan has engaged with the Probation Services over and above what he was asked to do and has organised counselling for himself.
He said that his client has attended that frequently. Mr Fitzpatrick said that the matter has had a significant impact on Mr Meehan’s family and that his father has attended court with him ever time.
Addressing Mr Meehan, Judge Durcan said that if he didn’t take that very good advice from Mr Fitzpatick, “you wouldn’t be here today, you would be down in Limerick”.
He added: “I want to compliment you on you very good co-operation with the Probation Service. There was an issue that had to be dealt with.”
Judge Durcan further told Mr Meehan: “I hope you appreciate the love and concern for you that your family has shown towards you and how lucky you are because many people come in here and they don’t have anyone.”
Judge Durcan said that if progress continues to be made, he will finalise the case in May of next year.
Judge Durcan further remanded Mr Meehan on bail and adjourned the case until May 2nd next.
