Application for Children's Court to hear child sex material case of Donegal girl (17)

An application will be made to have a case against a teenage girl charged with the possession of child sex images be retained by the Children's Court.

The 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Judge Éiteáin Cunningham at Letterkenny District Court this week. Previously, she was brought before Judge Vincent Deane last week.

She is charged that on February 12, 2023, at an address in Letterkenny, did knowingly have in her possession child pornography to wit five videos and eight images. The charge is contrary to section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.

The girl's solicitor, Mr Frank Dorrian, said he would be seeking a Section 75 hearing under the Children's Act.

Under such an application, a defence team can make submissions, citing the age, maturity or other relevant factors pertaining to a defendant.

The court was told that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has instructed prosecution on indictment.

Under section 75 of the Children's Act, the Children's Court can exercise discretion to accept jurisdiction in cases where a child is charged with an indictable offence – other than specific exceptions such as manslaughter - and deal with them summarily.

The court would be given a summary of the evidence and would hear submissions from the State and the defence before the presiding judge would make a determination.

Sergeant Jim Collins said that gardai would be opposing the application for a Section 75 hearing, which will be heard in early May.

Bail has been granted on conditions that include that she have no unsupervised access to social media.