A District Court Judge in Donegal is considering jurisdiction in the case of a juvenile girl charged with possessing child sex material.
The 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Judge Éiteáin Cunningham at Letterkenny District Court.
An application for the teenage girl’s case to be retained by the Children’s Court was made by her solicitor, while An Garda Siochana have opposed that request.
She is charged that on February 12, 2023, at an address in Letterkenny, did knowingly have in her possession child pornography to wit five videos and eight images.
The charge is contrary to section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.
Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that there was an allegation that the girl was using Instagram to distribute items of a sexual nature.
Gardai carried out enquiries and found that the device used was logged to a certain address. Detectives obtained a warrant and seized the device.
During the analysis, officers found two videos of a category 1 nature – the worst level of such material. These videos depicted prepubescent females engaged in sexual activities.
There were three videos in category 2 and eight images classified as category 3.
The girl’s mother and social workers were present in court.
When questioned by gardai during her detention, the girl was asked if she knew the difference between right and wrong and she replied: “Of course I do.”
Analysis of her search history showed that she specifically sought out such material.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has instructed prosecution on indictment, but Mr Franl Dorrian, solicitor for the accused, made a section 75 hearing – meaning the Children’s Court would retain the case and deal with it summarily.
Under section 75 of the Children’s Act, the Children’s Court can exercise discretion to accept jurisdiction in cases where a child is charged with an indictable offence – other than specific exceptions such as manslaughter – and deal with them summarily.
Mr Dorrian said that while the offences “are serious and, of course, indictable, the level concerned was not necessarily one that would attract a custodial sentence”.
He said the material was not “at the extreme end of the spectrum”.
Mr Dorrian said there were “maturity issues” with his client
“We are looking at a very unwelcome activity at a very moderate level committed by a child who wishes to plead guilty,” Mr Dorrian said.
“This is a young, vulnerable lady, there is a desire to plead guilty and it is not guaranteed to reach the custodial sentence threshold in the Circuit Court.”
Judge Cunningham adjourned the matter for consideration.
Bail has been granted on conditions that include that the girl have no unsupervised access to social media.