Eimear Dodd
A man who took a teenage girl to a Dublin city centre hotel where he engaged in sexual activity with her has been jailed for two years.
Dean Carr (25) pleaded to a charge of meeting a child under 17 for the purpose of engaging in a sex act, known in law as defilement, and a charge of sending sexually explicit material to her on Instagram.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Carr of Canon Lillis Avenue, Dublin 1 met the then 14-year-old victim at a Dublin hotel on January 17th, 2022.
The offending came to light when the girl later told her mother that she met a man and went to a hotel with him where they had sex twice and oral sex on one occasion.
The court heard that the girl had travelled by train from the west of the country to meet Carr, who she had been in contact with on Instagram. He was aware from these messages that she was under 18 as in one message she told him she was 15, the court was told.
The court heard that Carr paid for her child's train ticket and for a room at the hotel. Gardaí obtained CCTV from the hotel and identified Carr, who was wearing a distinctive orange puffer jacket, and the girl.
Gardaí seized a child's train ticket, a Starbucks receipt, a train ticket receipt, clothing, a laptop and a phone from the girl.
Carr's home was searched by gardaí, and the orange jacket was seized. A court order was also obtained for his bank account, and the relevant transactions were identified.
His Instagram account was also reviewed, following a court order, and gardaí are satisfied from the messages that he was aware the girl was underage at the time, the court was told.
When gardaí initially spoke to Carr, he indicated he would voluntarily attend for an interview, but his solicitors later told gardaí he would not.
The court heard there was no statement from the girl as her parents felt she wasn't ready to do so. No victim impact statement was provided to the court.
He was arrested in February 2024, and nothing of evidential value was obtained during the interview.
Carr has no previous convictions and has not come to negative garda attention since. He has been working in retail in the city centre.
The garda agreed with Cathal McGreal BL, defending, that his client accepted his wrongdoing and entered an early guilty plea.
It was further accepted that Carr indicated that he didn't wish for the girl to have to give evidence or attend court.
The garda also agreed that Carr told gardaí when his house was searched that he had deleted some messages, but stopped as he realised these were evidence. He also showed gardaí a message chain in which he asked the girl her age, and she told him '15'.
The garda accepted that Carr became very upset during the search of his house.
The garda further accepted that Carr is assessed at high risk of re-offending, but this would reduce to low risk with appropriate therapeutic interventions.
Mr McGreal said his client is aware of his wrongdoing towards the girl and remorseful for his actions.
Counsel said it “was an extraordinary misjudgement and wrong thing to do to a young girl”.
A number of documents, including a psychological report, which describes Carr as immature for his age, references and a letter of apology, were handed to the court.
Mr McGreal said his client is from a “good family” and his parents were in court to support him. He said his client is aware of the damage he has done to his family and the “notoriety” associated with this type of offending.
After hearing the facts on Thursday, Judge Martin Nolan remanded Carr in custody overnight and adjourned the case overnight to consider the sentence.
Imposing sentence on Friday, Judge Nolan said the offences were “rather serious”, noting there was “premeditation involved” in Carr's behaviour and the age difference between him and the girl.
Judge Nolan noted the mitigation includes Carr's guilty plea, his work history and the absence of previous convictions.
After imposing the two-year sentence on Carr, Judge Nolan said the court would have imposed a more severe sentence but accepted the defence's submission that Carr was an immature 21-year-old at the time.
“But what he did was reprehensible, and he planned it,” the judge added.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
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