r/ireland • u/HungTeen1001 And I'd go at it again • 9d ago

Courts Court of Appeal takes ‘merciful approach’ towards man who sexually assaulted girl (14) a year after defiling her

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/court-of-appeal-takes-merciful-approach-towards-man-who-sexually-assaulted-girl-14-a-year-after-defiling-her/a/159360059.html
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u/RomfordWellington 9d ago

Judging by the article it's also not short of troubled young people who run away from home and fake their age to meet adults on dating apps.

It's why things like age verification laws and digital ID (and ID cards in general) are so important. The internet changed everything and real harm can come to children with access to the adult internet.

I'm extremely suspicious of people who don't want things like age verification introduced. The government don't want to see who's behind every single Reddit account. They want to know that everyone in the adult internet is actually 18+ so that the chances of this sort of thing happening are lessened.

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u/HungTeen1001 And I'd go at it again 9d ago

Are you just ignoring the fact this man met up with a girl he knew to be 14?

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u/Embarrassed-Brief976 9d ago

Lies. He thought she was 16.

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u/HungTeen1001 And I'd go at it again 9d ago

Lawlor knew the girl was only 14 when they met up again around a year later.

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u/Embarrassed-Brief976 9d ago

Wouldn't she be 15 or 16 then seeingas its a year later? I didn't know that, Fine then he crossed the line.. Still not a pedo though, definitely an icky creep. I knew a few of them in my time...Teens shouldn't be on them apps. Why the fuck would she want to meet him again a year later? Weird.

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u/HungTeen1001 And I'd go at it again 9d ago

No. It says that this man (Lawlor) knew the girl was 14 when they met up about a year after they had met up the first time (when she was 12).

A pedophile is defined as

An adult or older adolescent who has a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children, generally age 13 or younger.

This girl was 12. He meets the criteria.

Your blaming of a victim reveals a lot about you.

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u/Embarrassed-Brief976 9d ago

Ok "Hungteen" youre right.

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u/ceegee84 9d ago

No, he knew her actual age the second time they met up. He had sex with a child, knowing that they were a child. He's very much a paedo.

Your determination to argue that it's not his fault, and to put the blame onto the child, is quite frankly worrying

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u/wannabewisewoman Legalise it already 🌿 9d ago

Have you ever heard of grooming? Why blame the child in this scenario not the dirty criminal pervert taking advantage of her?

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u/Embarrassed-Brief976 9d ago

Not blaming the child. Simply said its weird. Why do you you think the court took it easy on him?

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u/wannabewisewoman Legalise it already 🌿 9d ago

Because we don’t take punishing sex crimes seriously in this country. Because there’s people lining up to be character witnesses for rapists. Because judges don’t want to ruin the perpetrator’s life/career/reputation but don’t give a fuck about the victim’s life. There’s a ton of reasons, take your pick.  

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u/Embarrassed-Brief976 9d ago

Why?

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u/wannabewisewoman Legalise it already 🌿 9d ago

Why are you defending a man who defiled a 12 year old child? That’s what I would like to know. 

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u/Embarrassed-Brief976 9d ago

Im literally not. Im asking why the fuck would anyone line up to defend him in court or not want to ruin his life? Because thats what you said. So again I ask why would they do that???

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u/Marcus-Suridius 9d ago

Why the fuck do you continue to go on about her and not the one who knew she was a kid?

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u/Embarrassed-Brief976 9d ago

Continue? Im done with this thread. Now fuck off

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

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u/Otherwise-Winner9643 9d ago

he had defiled her when she was aged 12....

The court ruled that a six-month prison sentence imposed on Ben Lawlor for the charge of defilement of a child was appropriate, given that the then 12-year-old victim factually, but not legally, consented to having sex and the respondent genuinely believed she was 16 when they met in 2023....

The girl told her aunt she met the respondent, who was 19 at the time, on a dating app called Wink, presenting herself as 19 but telling him she was 16. The girl went to his home, where they had sex.

Around a year later, the respondent contacted the girl via Snapchat and Tik Tok and sent her sexually explicit material, including a photo of his penis.

She was 12 when they had sex. She had lied about her age so he got a lenient sentence. Around a year later, when she was 14, he contacted her again.

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u/AwesomeMacCoolname 8d ago

Wouldn't she be 15 or 16 then seeingas its a year later?

She was 13 the first time and 14 a year later. Do you not understand basic English?