Sex offender ordered not to have Tinder, Facebook profiles

A circuit court judge on Friday approved a rare order that a freed sex offender not have any profile on Tinder, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other social media.

The judge also approved the order that the 33-year old man from the west of Ireland not have any contact with children under the age of 18 years of age and not associate or have any contact with a named female and her baby.

The judge made the consent order under a very rarely used provision of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 put in place to protect the public from serious harm from convicted sex offenders who have served their time in jail and now live back in the community.

It is understood that the approved order under Section 16 of the Sex Offenders Act is only the third time that such an order has been used in Irish courts.

The man is currently not facing any charges in the courts and has lived in the community for a number of years after his release from prison.

However, the chief superintendent in the area in a sworn affidavit said that he believes that there are reasonable grounds for such an order to be put in place in order to protect the mother and her baby along with the public from serious harm from the man.

The sex offender was jailed for four years over a decade ago for five counts of buggery and 11 counts of sexual assault against four child victims aged between 10 and 14 at the time in a period between 1996 and 2001.

The man was convicted of five counts of buggery against a 12-year-old and an 11-year-old boy and counts of sexual assault against a boy aged 10 and a 13-year old-girl.

On sentencing, the court directed that the man enter a therapy programme for sex offenders while in jail and also directed that he be subject to a post release supervision order.

In court last Tuesday, the State secured leave from the judge in the case to serve an affidavit by the chief superintendent under Section 16 of the Sex Offenders Act on the man at his home and the case was adjourned to yesterday where the man was legally represented.

Before the hearing began on Friday, the man’s counsel and the chief superintendent agreed outside the court to the terms of a consent order under the section where the man agreed to the order and to a number of undertakings.

The man’s counsel presented the consent order to the judge and in the witness box, the sex offender gave sworn evidence that he would agree to the order and the undertakings made.

As part of the undertakings, the man has agreed not to delete his internet search history on any device in his possession and not to delete any material in his mobile phone for a period of nine months from Friday’s date.

The man has also agreed to have only one mobile phone in his possession and that the phone is to be available at all times for inspection by the Gardai.