A 43-year-old man who pleaded guilty to harassing Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has been given a suspended one year sentence.
Gerard Culhane from Marian Place, Glin, Co Limerick sent 13 messages including three sexually explicit videos to Ms MacNeill between January and March 2020.
In her victim impact statement to the court last May, Ms Carroll MacNeill said she was in the middle of a general election campaign when she received the messages and it left her with "a cold sense of dread" while canvassing.
Judge Patricia Ryan also ordered Culhane not to contact the TD in person or by social media and to stay away from Leinster house.
Judge Ryan said an aggravating factor in the case was the number of messages sent and the effect they had on Ms Carroll MacNeill, who found them "disgusting and frightening" as she went about her work, which required her to meet people unknown to her and was a particularly busy and stressful time.
In mitigation, she took into account Culhane's cooperation with gardaí, his expression of remorse and his donation to a charity nominated by Ms Carroll MacNeill.
The court was told a probation report noted he was at low risk of reoffending, and did not require the services of the Probation Service.
The judge assessed the headline sentence to be two years but reduced it to one year and fully suspended the sentence on a number of conditions, including that he have no contact with Ms Carroll MacNeill and stays away from her place of work.
The sentence hearing last May was told the messages came from a Facebook account in another name and involved three videos.
One of the sexually explicit videos was accompanied by a winking, smiley face and love heart emojis. Another message the same night showed a thumbs up saying "stay warm gorgeous" with a second thumbs up.
A further message said "Hi Jen, you will be the best-looking TD in the Dáil in a few weeks".
Later that same evening, she received two further messages, one which read: "Love your campaign poster, you look stunning in it". The other message said: "I must have a hot bath" followed by a winky, thumbs up and love heart emoji.
A further message was sent showing a man looking into a mirror, suggestively pulling his boxers shorts down.
Ms Carroll MacNeill woke the following morning to find six additional messages from the account. One was of a male, wearing pink underwear and masturbating, along with a winking, kiss and love heart emoji. Another was a video in which a penis and hands could be seen, but Ms Carroll MacNeill did not watch the rest of the video.
She was also sent a photograph of herself taken in Dún Laoghaire along with another politician, previously published, and attached to it was a message saying: "You look so sexy. What a great body you have."
Ms Carroll MacNeill did not respond to any of the messages she received. She contacted gardaí to report what had happened and seek advice. The messages, photographs and videos were sent between January and March 2020.
A garda investigation identified Culhane as a suspect. Gardaí went to his home with a search warrant and he immediately admitted he knew why they were there and handed over his phone and his Facebook password.
He admitted sending the messages and said the videos had been downloaded from pornography sites. He expressed remorse and apologised and said "stupidity" made him do it.
The court was told he had no previous convictions, was living with his parents and had been unemployed since 2004. He had stopped drinking in 2017 and became socially isolated.
He began using Facebook to strike up conversations with people. His defence counsel said "unfortunately he began contacting the complainant because he was curious to see if he could engage with her".
He continued the communication because he had not been blocked and hoped that at some stage she might respond, the court was told.
His defence counsel said he did not wish to cause Ms Carroll MacNeill alarm.
He had €1,000 in court to offer as a token of his remorse, which Ms Carroll MacNeill has indicated that she would like to be donated to Aoibhneas Women's Refuge in Coolock, Dublin.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Carroll MacNeill said she was in the middle of a general election at the time and the harassment from Culhane was "extremely difficult to deal with". She was worried for her safety, afraid while out canvassing because she had to meet people in person.
"Was the person far away from me, crossing the road towards me. What were they going to do? Was I going to be attacked?"
Speaking outside the court this afternoon, Ms Carroll MacNeill urged women who receive unwanted messages to contact gardaí, and said while her position as an elected public representative meant there was extra interest in the case, other women also faced unwanted advances, whether online or in person.
"I want to say clearly that it is not acceptable to send unwanted sexual content – to have to receive it at any time of day – whether intended frivolously or threateningly – sending unwanted sexual content is not normal, it is not acceptable.
"If you are in this situation, or any other that is happening without your consent, it is possible to bring those concerns to An Garda Síochána – you will be taken seriously, the criminal justice system is there to support you.
"And while I recognise that it is not pleasant to be here, indeed I have said already I have absolutely no wish to be here, it is possible to put an end to the experience through the criminal justice system and I hope someone may hear that today," she said.
She said she had pursued the case in part due to concern that if it was happening to her, then it was "almost certainly happening to someone else – and that needed to be stopped".
She extended her thanks to the court and the DPP for their management of the case.
She also thanked Detective Sergeant Rachel Kilpatrick who provided "truly excellent support at every stage of this process".
Detective Sergeant Kilpatrick's "professionalism and the way in which she managed every aspect of this case gave me increased confidence and it is her work that has secured this outcome today", she said, adding that she hoped this would give confidence to other women that they would be supported by gardaí.
