A High Court judge has said he is concerned about the number of cases of young children committing serious offences as a result of exposure to pornography on smartphones.
Mr Justice Micheal White made his comments while dealing with a case involving a boy who sexually exploited his two younger cousins.
The boy's lawyer told the Central Criminal Court that his client, now aged 17, had access to pornography from a very young age.
The boy, who cannot be identified because he is still a minor, told gardaí he became obsessed with sex.
The court heard that he and his cousin, who is just over a year younger than him, began to engage in non-penetrative sexual contact when she was aged about nine or 10.
This behaviour continued from 2011 up to 2016.
Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, told the court there was no suggestion of any force or coercion used in this behaviour. In relation to this behaviour, the boy pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child on dates in 2015 at a place in Galway.
The court heard that the girl told the defendant, in early 2016 , she wanted the sexual contact to stop. He sent her text messages saying he had pictures and video recordings of their previous sexual contact.
Blackmailed
He told her he would disseminate these to her friends and others online if she didn’t continue to have sex with him.
After the offending came to light, the girl told gardaí that she had sex with her cousin again because she was afraid of this threat.
The offending came to light when the girl’s mother discovered material on her daughter’s mobile phone.
After his arrest, the boy told gardaí he had blackmailed her. He later pleaded guilty to anal rape of the girl in her bedroom on dates in January 2016.
The boy told gardaí that he had anal sex with a male cousin, who is four months younger than him, up to 10 times and that it was consensual.
The court heard that there was no coercion and that “at all times [the male cousin] was a consenting participant, in so far as any child could consent”.
He pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child by inviting the child to take part in sexual activity on dates in 2015.
Neither of the complainants completed a victim impact statement.
Mr Justice White adjourned the case to later this month for sentencing. He said this was the fourth case he has dealt with himself “where young children have committed the most serious offences...where the start was exposure to pornography on smartphones”.
“It is very serious and a matter of great concern.” he said. He said the offending the court is seeing “goes way beyond consensual sexual experimentation”.
Patrick Gageby SC, defending, read out a letter of apology written by his client in which the boy said he regretted everything and wished he could take it back.
“I wish to apologise to my cousins and their families for all the wrong I’ve done. I’m very sorry to my family for all I’ve done and put them through. I’ve learned from my mistakes and I promise never to do it again,” he wrote.
Counsel asked the court to consider an assessment from the Probation Service which stated the boy had demonstrated insight and empathy around his offending and was “now much the wiser about issues of consent”.
He said his client, his cousins and the entire wider family were all decent, hard-working people.