A young woman in Letterkenny charged with possessing child sexually explicit material has been sent forward to stand trial.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will go before Letterkenny Circuit Court later this year.
The 18-year-old appeared at Letterkenny District Court this week where a book of evidence in the matter was served on her.
The woman is charged that on February 12, 2023, at an address in Letterkenny, she did knowingly have in her possession child pornography to with five videos and eight images.
The charge is contrary to section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.
Sergeant Maurice Doyle told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has consented for the accused to be forwarded to the next sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court, which commences in October.
The court heard evidence of a book of evidence being served on the accused at 11.26am on Monday at Letterkenny courthouse.
Judge Cunningham made an order returning the woman for trial. The alibi warning was administered and a section 56 order, relating to videos of interviews, was made.
Legal aid was granted and two legal counsel were assigned in the case.
Temporary reporting restrictions, meaning that the accused woman cannot be named, were placed by Judge Cunningham. Bail was granted in the defendant’s own bond of 100, and she must reside at an address given to An Garda Siochana.
Mr Donough Cleary, acting as agent for the woman’s solicitor, Mr Frank Dorrian, said the case is a “fairly complex matter” and added that the woman was involved with social services.
A condition that the woman have no unsupervised access to social media was removed by Judge Cunningham as it was noted that this would prove to be difficult to monitor.
Previously, Judge Cunningham refused an application for the case of the then 17-year-old to be heard by the Children’s Court after hearing submissions from the accused woman’s solicitor and An Garda Siochana.
After considering the facts of the case, the age and level maturity of the girl, Judge Cunningham said she did not find it to be a minor offence.
The court has heard that there is an allegation that the girl was using Instagram to distribute items of a sexual nature. Gardai carried out enquiries and found that a 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.
When questioned by gardai during her detention, the accused 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.