Teenage girl charged in nudify case

A teenage girl is facing “extraordinarily serious” charges relating to the alleged nudification of children on social media.

The girl, who cannot be named, appeared before Judge Raymond Finnegan at a recent sitting of Cavan District Court where she was charged in connection with the alleged grooming of a nine year old over Snapchat; and superimposing the faces of other children believed to be from the same community onto the bodies of adults involved in sexual intercourse.

Evidence of arrest, charge and caution of the teenager, who was present in court with her parents, was presented to the judge by Sergeant James McDevitt who expressed his view that the teenager “needs help”.

The first charge is that on a date in May of last year the girl did have in her possession six images contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. They include one image with the face of a young boy and a girl, aged under 14 years, superimposed over the faces of two adult bodies having sexual intercourse. Among the other images, it’s alleged, were a naked boy aged 13-16 years old; a young girl under 12; and one involving two young boys aged 8-11 years.

The second charge is that, on dates between September 2024 and May 2025, the teenage defendant did knowingly produce child pornography.

The third charge is that, by means of a communication app - using Snapchat on a phone and iPad - the defendant did allegedly communicate with a child for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

Judge Finnegan remarked that the nature of the alleged charges was “very concerning”, however he acknowledged that the direction was for the matter to be dealt with summarily in the district court, and he accepted jurisdiction accordingly.

Sgt McDevitt explained that the alleged offending only came to light after family members of a nine year old child discovered that the teenager had been messaging the younger person via the social media app, encouraging the child to carry out “sex acts” of themselves and “send videos back”.

After gardaí received a complaint, the defendant attended at a local garda station twice for interview. The images reported were viewed and electronic equipment seized.

Members of the nine year old’s family were interviewed, but the child was not.

The defendant was represented in court by solicitor Garrett Fortune who asked that the case be adjourned, with Sgt McDevitt noting to the judge his feeling that the teenager “needs help more than anything else”.

Bail conditions were set out including that the girl stay away from playgrounds and other places young people might congregate. Judge Finnegan asked the girl if she understood the ramifications of what might happen if she breached her bail conditions.

“These are extraordinarily serious charges,” said the judge to the teenager, adding that if she abides by the directions of the court, and engages in the recommended supports on offer, that there was potential path forward for all parties concerned.

“This is not normal behaviour for a child your age,” the judge told the teenager. “You’re too young to go and ruin your life at this stage.”

Along with the other conditions set out, the girl is not allowed unsupervised access to electronic devices except for school work, and have no connection by any means with the alleged injured party in the case.

She has been bailed to appear again at another sitting of Cavan District Court later this year.