A 25-year-old man who allegedly walked out of an apartment building in Dublin with a child he did not know "under his arm" has been refused bail at Dublin District Court.
The court heard Visak Rajesh Leela, who is a student from India, is in Ireland on a student visa and has an address in south Dublin.
A district court imposed reporting restrictions on his name earlier this week.
But those restrictions were lifted by Judge Alan Mitchell this afternoon, following an application by lawyers representing RTÉ and other media organisations.
The court heard the man was at a party in an apartment building on the north side of the city last Saturday night.
After he left the apartment he had been in he was seen on CCTV interacting with two young children aged five and ten years old.
He did not know the children and they did not know him.
Garda Laura McDermott told the court the man was seen leaving the building and walking away with the five-year-old child under his arm.
She said the ten-year-old was seen going after him and the man then returned with both children.
After his arrest the man told gardaí: "I was not taking a child anywhere. I am not a person like that. I did not have any intentions with a child. I did not have any bad or unwanted intentions with the child."
His solicitor, Michael Kelleher, told the court that his client had been at a party and was intoxicated.
He described his client's conduct as "extremely misguided, foolish horseplay by a drunk man" rather than anything more sinister.
The judge on Monday granted an application made by gardaí to prevent the man’s name being published because of the sensitive nature of the case and the "current climate in the country".
However, this afternoon, Detective Sergeant Basil Grimes told the court the main concern of the gardaí was that there would not be identification of the injured parties or any witnesses.
Identification of the children is already prohibited under the Children Act.
Barrister John Freeman for RTÉ, The Irish Times, Mediahuis, publishers of the Irish Independent, MGN, publishers of the Irish Mirror and Irish Star and DMG media, publishers of the Irish Daily Mail, said his clients wanted the reporting restrictions to be discharged.
The court heard there was no connection between Mr Leela and the children which would lead to their identification if he was named.
Defence Solicitor Michael Kelleher said he was concerned about the address of his client being published.
He said he had seen TikTok videos about the case in the last few days and pointed out that protesters had turned up outside the home of the Taoiseach previously.
The judge ruled Mr Leela’s name could be published but publication of his address should be limited to South Dublin.
The judge said he made this order "having regard to the unfortunate climate we are in, fuelled in many cases by social media".
Detective Sergeant Basil Grimes said gardaí were objecting to bail for Mr Leela as he was a flight risk because of the seriousness of the charge and the potential sentence that could be imposed.
The court heard attempted abduction of a child carries a possible sentence of seven years in jail if the matter is heard in the Circuit Criminal Court.
Sergeant Grimes said Mr Leela had no financial or family ties to this country.
Mr Kelleher said a doctor deemed Mr Leela unfit to be interviewed for a number of hours after his arrest because of his state of intoxication.
He said he had been very forthcoming with gardaí and had given them passwords for his mobile phone and computer.
Mr Kelleher said his client was extremely anxious to contest the matter but the likelihood of a trial before 2026 was slim.
The judge refused bail citing the seriousness of the charge and the sentence that could be imposed.
He said Mr Leela could appeal that decision to the High Court.
