A High Court judge in Belfast has called for greater regulation of Facebook after hearing how a teaching assistant charged with child sex offences used the social networking site to contact an alleged victim.
The comments from Lord Justice Girvan came as bail was granted to an 18-year-old man accused of targeting two boys he helped teach music to at a school in Belfast.
The accused, who cannot be identified, is charged with engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch a sexual act.
The PSNI and social services were contacted amid concerns over comments posted on Facebook by the accused, a volunteer teaching assistant. One of the alleged victims claimed the accused contacted him on the website under his own name and a false identity to suggest sexual acts.
The judge said the case exemplifies the extreme dangers presented by the current internet system and particularly Facebook, which enables access to be given to young people in circumstances which can lead on to quite improper sexual activity.
The accused was granted bail and ordered to surrender any mobile phone or internet devices and banned from having unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.
