Longford Judge sets ‘marker’ as sensitive evidence in sexual assault case shared online

A teenager, accused of sexual assault, shared a number of sections of his book of evidence in a video chat, including sensitive reports relating to the victim, which were then screenshotted and shared, a court has heard.

The man, who cannot be named due to the nature of the charges, is accused of two counts of sexual assault on a female minor in April of last year, and appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly at Longford Circuit Court.

Shane Geraghty BL, for the state, explained the “very serious” nature of the “contempt of court”, stating that a number of photographs from within the book of evidence had been “widely shared on Snapchat”.

“The dissemination of those pictures is of deep concern insofar as the complainant enjoys complete anonymity,” he said.

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The book of evidence was given to the accused and “lo and behold”, pictures were “disseminated” on social media, he said, and it was “implicit in his bail conditions that there would be no disseminating of the book of evidence on social media”.

Taking to the witness box, the mother of the injured party told the court that, on July 12, 2025 she made a statement to Gardaí that she arrived home to find her daughter in distress over photos shared on social media.

“Before all this happened, they were all friends. A mutual friend sent screenshots of what he (the accused) has been saying and his laughing faces,” she said.

“She was distraught. He has no idea what he’s done to her,” she added, becoming upset.

Kieran Collins BL, for the accused, stated that, while it is accepted his client should not have shared the images, “I don’t know if it’s bad behaviour in the context of bail revocation”.

“It appears that what occurred was he was having a video call with another person and he showed the other person pages from the book,” he said.

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“But it wasn’t him who shared the pictures, it was the person on the other end of the phone.”

He said that seeking to revoke bail would be “a premature step I’d ask the court not to take”.

Judge Connolly, however, said that this was not just a case of photographs from the book of evidence, but seemed to be “targeted photographs”, including the Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) report and details of a genital examination of the female.

“So you’re saying he was on a video call and showed the book to another person and the other person captured screenshots,” he said, addressing Mr Collins.

“Given the clarity of these photographs, it’s very difficult to accept that explanation. It seems very clear the accused has breached his bail conditions and very clear he has targeted elements of the book of evidence.

“Even if he didn’t share the photos himself, he allowed them to be published. (The victim’s mother) also said something about laughing faces, so somebody was having a good laugh and it is not a laughing matter.”

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Judge Connolly opted not to revoke the teenager’s bail but changed the previous €200 own bond to €3,000, ordering him to lodge a sum of €2,000. He remanded the youth in custody until such time as the cash sum is lodged. He also ordered that the book of evidence be surrendered to the accused’s solicitor.

“I have to set a marker that this is a very, very serious matter,” he concluded.