Wednesday 28 October 2026Compiled from published reports. Every claim links to its source.

Ireland Crime

Every case followed from the first report to the sentence, or to where the reporting stopped.

Case No. 3153Child sexual exploitation (online), sexual offences against a child · Co. Westmeath · 15 Jul 2021

Former OPW worker Kevin Smyth given suspended sentence for sexualised messages to undercover PSNI officer

Kevin Smyth, a 58-year-old former OPW employee from Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath, was given a four-year suspended sentence at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to charges under the 2017 Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act for sending sexualised messages via Skype and WhatsApp to an undercover PSNI operative posing as a 13-year-old girl in 2021.

  1. Reportednot reported
  2. Arrestednot reported
  3. Chargednot reported
  4. In courtnot reported
  5. Verdictnot reported
  6. Sentenced6 May
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet

Key facts

consolidated from all reports
20 statements extracted from the articles
  • whatKevin Smyth is 58 years old (irishtimes.com)
  • whatSmyth was a former OPW employee who worked in river cleaning (irishtimes.com)
  • whatSmyth used Skype and WhatsApp to communicate with the operative (irishtimes.com)
  • whereSmyth lives at Dublin Road, Castlepollard (irishtimes.com)
  • whenThe offences occurred in 2021 (irishtimes.com)
  • whenThe first charge related to an incident on 15 July (irishtimes.com)
  • chargeSmyth faced charges under the 2017 Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act (irishtimes.com)
  • chargeSmyth admitted attempting to use Skype and WhatsApp to facilitate child sexual exploitation between June and July (irishtimes.com)
  • chargeSmyth pleaded guilty to attempting to invite a child to sexual touching (irishtimes.com)
  • courtSmyth pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court (irishtimes.com)
  • courtJudge Keenan Johnson finalised the case (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThe undercover operative was a PSNI operative posing as a 13-year-old girl (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThe judge said Smyth was motivated by an unhealthy preoccupation with deviant sexual acts (irishtimes.com)
  • otherPsychologist Catherine Norton reported Smyth was at low risk of reoffending if he continued specialist counselling (irishtimes.com)
  • otherSmyth said he had been abused at a young age (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThe perpetrator of Smyth's childhood abuse died before facing trial (irishtimes.com)
  • otherSmyth's online pornography addiction escalated into an interest in child abuse material (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThe judge held Smyth was equally culpable because he had no idea it was not a real child (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThere was no evidence of any prior crimes (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThe offences occurred over a short period (irishtimes.com)

The reporting

newest first
  1. 6 May2026
    Sentencedirishtimes.com, first report
    Former OPW worker avoids jail for sending sexualised messages to undercover officer posing as girl

    Reports the sentencing of Kevin Smyth, including the judge's remarks, the psychologist's report, the defence submissions, and the full sentence of concurrent four-year suspended terms plus a €15,000 payment to Barnardos.

    convicted, Kevin Smyth, 58, male, named, irish (judged from name)Kevin Smyth