Judge orders reports on man caught in ‘ruse’

Published date24 June 2022
Tim Bowen (45), with an address at Cottage View, Monkstown, Cork, was sent forward to Cork Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to two charges arising from the ruse by the 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.

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.

No previous convictions

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...

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