Clondalkin man jailed for sending explicit photos to teenage girls on Snapchat

A man has been jailed for two years for sending messages and sexually explicit photos to over 100 teenage girls on Snapchat.  

Mark Fitzgerald (39) of St. Marks Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, pleaded guilty to five counts of using technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child on dates in  April 2022.

Detective Garda Gemma Casserly told Kate Egan BL, prosecuting, that Fitzgerald handed himself into Ronanstown Garda Station in May 2022 and told them he had been contacting girls aged between 12 and 19 on Snapchat.

He said his then-partner had come across the material while looking at his phone and the relationship ended because of this.

Fitzgerald told gardai that over the previous 18 months, the ages of the girls he was communicating with was trending towards 12 to 14 years old. He said he never met these girls, but he was sending pictures of his genital area and receiving pictures in return from them.

He told gardai he wasn’t aware of  where the girls were from, and had added random girls on Snapchat when he set it up.

Fitzgerald handed over his phone and PIN.

Gardai made a request to Snapchat to preserve the material and were later able to take it up.

Fitzgerald’s 1490 conversations on Snapchat during the month of April 2022  were analysed.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told that Fitzgerald instigated 136 different conversations with underage girls during this period. The remainder of the conversations involved women aged 17 and older, who can legally send explicit images.

Evidence was heard that the nature of the Snapchat app meant that no images were recovered, but gardai analysed Fitzgerald’s conversations.

The court was told he would message girls asking for their age and a photo. He would then use more sexualised language, telling them they are gorgeous and asking to see them in more revealing outfits.

Fitzgerald also offered to send photos of his genitalia and asked the girls to take photos up their skirt or lift their skirts to show their underwear.
He frequently asked the girls their age in messages and when one asked for his age, he told them he was 20.

When Fitzgerald later gave a voluntary interview to gardai in 2024, he said he was wrongly messaging underage girls, and had sent pictures of his genital area.
He said he also asked for pictures from them including their face, bodies and genital areas, but shouldn’t have been doing this.

Fitzgerald said he would initially ask for photos of the girl’s face, then as the conversation progressed, he would look for more photos, hoping to eventually receive photos of their vagina.

He said he would send pictures of his penis on Snapchat to them. He told gardai he had no urges to do anything sexual with any of the girls and is now attending counselling.

Fitzgerald told gardai his siblings would not allow him to see his nieces as a result of this offending.

Det Gda Casserly agreed with Brian Storan BL, defending, that Fitzgerald was not under suspicion at the time he went to Ronanstown Garda Station and he assisted the investigation by providing his phone and PIN.

It was further accepted that gardai could only identify the age of the female participants in the conversations based on what they said in messages, and have no further information about them.

It was also agreed that images were not sent in all of the 136 conversations involving underage girls and Fitzgerald would apologise and end the chat if they refused.

Det Gda Casserly agreed that Fitzgerald made full admissions, presented as someone who was ashamed of his actions and that these conversations were confined to the month of April.

It was also accepted that Fitzgerald’s former partner declined to make a statement to gardai.

Det Gda Casserly also agreed that Fitzgerald has been living an isolated life since going to gardai, has brought shame to his family and feels the force of that shame.

It was also accepted that there is no suggestion of inappropriate behaviour by Fitzgerald towards younger members of his family.

Mr Storan told the court his client has a good work history but has lost a lot of family support as a result of his offending.

He said his client acknowledges his offending behaviour, has a history of depression and has sought professional help.

Imposing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan noted that Fitzgerald self-reported his criminal behaviour to gardai.

The judge said it is a “serious matter to engage in this way with children”.

He said that Fitzgerald deserved a prison term, but noted there was “good mitigation”, including that the defendant had self-reported to gardai and imposed a two-year sentence.