Confronted by ‘vigilante’ group at bus station

Six-years in jail for man who thought he was meeting 14-year-old girl

A 45-YEAR-OLD man who was confronted by a self-organised “child protection” group at a bus station, where he believed he had arranged to meet a girl aged 13 or 14, has been jailed for six years at Monaghan Circuit Court.

Adam Mullen, a Monaghan town native most recently living at Main Street, Castleblayney, had pleaded guilty to a charge that he attempted to meet child at North Road, Monaghan Town, on June 11, 2019 for the purpose of sexual exploitation, contrary to Common Law.

Judge John Aylmer had been told the case arose from a “sting” operation, in which members of a group calling themselves ‘Child Protection Awareness’ led Mullen to believe he was communicating with a girl called “Lisa”. But no such girl existed, and it was in fact one of the group’s members that had acted as a “decoy” in pretending to be the teenager.

Because no actual victim existed in real life, Judge Aylmer concurred with prosecution barrister Frank Martin BL, that there were no media reporting restrictions in relation to publishing the defendant’s name.

At the outset of the hearing, Mr Martin had it confirmed from Detective Garda Lee O’Donnell that this was “one of those cases where vigilantes organise a sting operation”. The garda agreed saying he had been made aware the ‘Child Protection Awareness’ group had confronted a man at Monaghan Bus Station.

Members of this group had actually invented the persona of a girl they named ‘Lisa’, purporting to be aged 13 or 14.

The meeting had been arranged via WhatsApp and another social media platform known as ‘FastMeet’. When Det Gda O’Donnell arrived at the bus station he met a woman who said she was the founder of the group. Another lady, who was present, had stated that she had acted as the “decoy”.

In passing sentence Wednesday, April 29, Judge Aylmer said evidence based on phone messages had shown it was Mr Mullen’s intention to go to bed with a child, and that it was also clear he “very fully” believed he was communicating with a girl aged 13 or 14.

The judge said it was in light of the defendant’s co-operation and lack of relevant previous convictions that the final 12 months of a seven-year sentence was being suspended, and that this was also being done in the hope he would engage more fully with the Probation Service and his own rehabilitation, despite an ongoing element of “denial” on his part.

‘Sexual direction’

Det Gda O’Donnell, in his evidence, had explained that members of the child protection group operated on the basis of letting the person they were chatting to believe it was an underage person with which they were communicating. If the person “brought the conversation in a sexual direction” an arrangement would be made to meet up. The person would then be confronted, and “live streamed”, usually on Facebook, as in this case.

It had been arranged with Mr Mullen that ‘Lisa’ would arrive on a bus and he would be there to meet her. He was challenged by the group at the bus station, and a live video of this was put up on Facebook.

The garda said that, when the group had asked Mullen what it would be called if he were to meet a 13-year-old to take her virginity, he had replied this would be classed as “rape”. But he also said at one point, “I didn’t even know she was that age.” He said he was not a paedophile.

The court was told that CCTV footage of the incident at the bus station was saved, that a statement was taken from the lady who acted as a decoy, and that phones were also examined. A WhatsApp thread, downloaded from the defendant’s phone, had shown it would have been clear to him the “pretend” girl’s age was no more than 14, the garda stated.

Det Gda O’Donnell also revealed certain images had been exchanged. Mr Mullen had sent a number of images depicting a male penis to the person he thought to be ‘Lisa’, with sexualised content attached.

Arrested and interviewed in March 2020, he initially denied it was him communicating with the purported child, but on his third interview, after voicemails were replayed and transcripts shown, he admitted he was the person who sent the messages and pictures. He was co-operative during this process, and had apologised. But he continued denying he knew the pretend-Lisa was 14, stating he did not believe it was a child he was communicating with.

The text exchanges, however, had made it clear ‘Lisa’ was a child.

One message from ‘Lisa’ said, “I’m waiting for you to come to bed with me.” There was sexualised content to the messages, and they were exchanged over a number of months, Judge Aylmer was told.

Facebook video removed

The garda agreed with Mr Martin that the accused said he was disgusted with himself, and that what he did was stupid and he regretted it. It was also confirmed he had a number of minor previous convictions for road traffic breaches, but nothing of relevance.

Senior counsel James McGowan, defending, told court that a motion had been brought in this matter to have the bus station video material removed from Facebook. That was done in April 2023. Time was then allowed to pass to allow a “fade factor” to ensure it would not be fresh in the minds of potential jurors. But his client ultimately pleaded guilty in April 2025, which meant a jury wasn’t required.

Mr McGowan, however, accepted the judge’s observation this meant the defendant could not be given credit for an early plea.

The lawyer also conceded a probation and welfare report had concluded that, even though Mr Mullen was pleading guilty, he was not accepting full responsibility. Instead, he told the Probation Service he was “set up”, and had in fact been on an adult dating site when the profile of the female came up.

The report also noted that female was set up as a “fake account”, and that there were regular, almost daily, communications between the two. On numerous occasions the decoy did inform Mr Mullen that she was a 14-year-old female, but that did not make him cease messaging. As the months passed, the messages became sexual in nature, and he made arrangements to meet her off the bus in Monaghan.

He told the Probation Service he was using alcohol on a daily basis, which clouded his judgement. But he insisted he was not attracted to children, and continued to be in denial of the offence. This, in turn, meant he was displaying little victim empathy in relation to the offence.

The report had placed his client at a “moderate risk” of reoffending, Mr McGowan noted.

He was a native of Monaghan Town, and he now, as a result of this offending, had contact with no family members other than his father. He was residing in B&B accommodation since the offence, having had to move on occasion.

At the age eight, he and his siblings were taken into care. He attended St Oliver’s Secondary School, and then Beech Hill College in Monaghan for a year before being expelled. He had been employed as a cinema projectionist, then as a security guard, then at odd jobs before obtaining the Jobseeker’s Allowance that he was in receipt of for the last 10 years.

Marriage

He was in a relationship for a number of years from the age of 16, and had in fact married this lady in Japan. He had a daughter from that union, who was joint Japanese-Irish origin. Unfortunately, in 2013, his wife passed away after a road traffic collision, and he then had to bring up his daughter alone. He had stated he was able to progress her through third level education, and that she was now a spinal surgeon in Japan. He no longer had contact with that daughter, again as a result of this offence.

He was currently in a relationship, for some time, with a woman from the Philippines he met online. This lady had a daughter that he called his own, and he had been sending part of his Jobseeker’s Allowance to the new partner to look after that daughter.

Mullen never used illegal drugs, counsel stated, but did have problems with alcohol. He had stopped drinking when he turned 18 because he realised the negative effect it was having, but had reverted to it at the time of this offending. He was now off it again, however.

Mr McGowan, in conclusion, asked the court to be as lenient as it could, given his client’s lack of previous, his guilty plea, his difficult upbringing, his efforts in bringing his daughter through college, and the fact he was now shunned by his entire family bar his father.

In delivering his verdict, Judge Aylmer told the defendant he had pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation, which carried a sentence of up to 14 years. Evidence had shown it was Mullen’s intention to go to bed with a child, and the only inference that could be drawn from this was an intention to have sexual relations with the child. What happened in this case was in the “mid-range” of such offences, meriting a headline sentence of eight years before consideration of mitigating factors.

Those included a guilty plea that saved a trial, but it was a late plea, and one that was entered in the face of a very strong prosecution case. The defendant’s cooperation with the investigation was also in his favour. Unfortunately, however, he had remained “in denial” when dealing with the Probation Service, and had been protesting he was “set up”. This denial limited the extent to which he could be rehabilitated.

“But it was very clear from the evidence that you believed very fully that you were communicating with a 13 or 14-year-old girl,” Judge Aylmer stated.

The judge agreed that alcohol might well have impacted the accused’s judgement.

In light of Mullen’s cooperation, together with the absence of relevant previous, the judge said he could reduce the sentence to seven years. To further encourage rehabilitation and engagement with the Probation Service, he said he was suspending the final 12 months, leaving the time to be served at six years.

Mullen was also to go under Probation Service supervision during the 12 months and follow all its recommendations.

Further, he was to attend all probation appointments and inform the service of any changes of address or contact details