News

Parents assaulted daughter after her nude Facebook photo posts, court told

August 3rd, 2017 11:30 AM

By Southern Star Team

Her parents had told the teen that she was not to use her phone.

Share this article

A 15-year-old girl who posted nude pictures of herself on Facebook was assaulted by both of her parents when they tried to control her.

A 15-YEAR-OLD girl who posted nude pictures of herself on Facebook was assaulted by both of her parents when they tried to control her.

Those were the facts outlined last week by Inspector John Deasy and Judge Olann Kelleher finalised the case against the parents.

They were both given five-month jail terms suspended for five months on condition that they would attend any parenting course recommended by the probation service.

Solicitor Leo Murphy said that while the pleas of guilty were accepted by the two accused they disputed certain aspects of the case put forward by the prosecution.

He said the parents were only motivated by a desire to protect their daughter from putting herself in a vulnerable position by the nature of the material she was posting on Facebook. Mr Murphy said that they had attended a family-strengthening programme even before this occurred and had tried to deal with challenging behaviour from their daughter.

The injured party's father denied kicking her or knocking her to the floor in his attempt to get her phone from her.

There was a footprint on the girl's face, according to Insp. Deasy, and Mr Murphy said the girl's mother denied stamping on her daughter's face in any way. He said the injured party  admitted that she had bit hard on her mother's forefinger and thumb that the woman had assaulted her in order to get free.

Judge Olann Kelleher said it was a very sad case where a girl had been viciously assaulted by her parents, and that the situation was serious enough for the HSE to decide she should be removed from the family home. ‘The fact that it is their daughter makes it more unfortunate. She has lost contact with her siblings and she missed them terribly. I have to take (the assaults) seriously,' Judge Kelleher said.

Insp. Deasy said the incident with her father occurred when he arrived to see her standing at an upstairs window of the family home using her phone despite the fact that her parents had told her she was not to use her phone.

She complained to gardaí that when he tried to get the phone from her that he pulled her hair and she said he kicked her on the ground – a claim which he denied. The teenager then left the house and later in the evening her mother found her and brought her home and there was another altercation. She claimed her mother slapped her across the face, that she threatened to bite her mother and that her mother kicked her in order to stop her.

Mr Murphy, solicitor, said her parents had become concerned about substance abuse, promiscuity and self-harm by their 15-year-old daughter, and the posting of the pictures described.

Sentencing had been put back for a report from the probation service on the parents and a victim impact statement.

The parties are not identified in this report for legal reasons.

Share this article


Related content