Judge orders reports on man caught in ‘ruse’ by paedophile hunting vigilantes

A man pleaded guilty to attempted child sexual exploitation after members of a vigilante group posed as a 14-year-old girl and arranged to meet him at a coffee shop in Cork.

Tim Bowen (45), with an address at Cottage View, Monkstown, Cork, was sent forward to Cork Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing on Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to two charges arising from the ruse by the paedophile hunter group.

Bowen pleaded guilty to attempting to communicate with a child for the purpose of facilitating the sexual exploitation of that child on dates between July 4th and July 26th, 2019. He also admitted to attempting to meet the child at Costa Coffee in Bishopstown on July 26th, 2019 for the purpose of doing something that constituted sexual exploitation, namely sexual assault.

Prosecution barrister Jane Hyland told Judge Sarah Berkeley that the State was in a position to proceed and Sgt Gary Duggan, who investigated the matter, was in court to outline the facts in the case.

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Ms Hyland told the court that Bowen was chatting online with a person he thought was a child but was in fact a member of “a paedophile hunting vigilante group”. He arranged to meet the child but was instead met by members of the group who called gardaí.

Defence barrister Sinead Behan said the charges arose from “a ruse by a vigilante group” and while her client was pleading guilty to both, there were a number of matters that she wished to bring to the court’s attention, including that Bowen had no previous convictions for similar offences.

She said he lost his job as a result of publicity about the case and that his marriage had also broken down. He was now in a relationship with a new partner, for whom he was a carer, and the matter had caused him huge distress and led to a suicide attempt.

Ms Behan said while she was happy to proceed with hearing the facts of the case, she wondered if perhaps it might be to the benefit of the court if she was to seek to obtain a report on her client from a forensic psychologist, exploring his behaviour leading up to the incident.

Judge Berkeley said it appeared to be complex case with severe penalties, and she agreed that the court would benefit from a report from a forensic psychologist into Bowen’s behaviour, including his ADHD and bi-polar conditions, which could assist her in assessing the risk of any future offending. She said she felt the court would also benefit from a report by a psychiatrist into Bowen’s mental state at the time and going forward.

Ms Behan said that her client was willing to participate in the Safer Lives Group Work Treatment Programme, a community based therapeutic group work programme for men convicted of sexual violence or exploitation offences.

Judge Berkeley requested that Bowen work with the programme under the supervision of the Probation Service and remanded him on bail to appear again on November 10th.