Ireland Case No. 7815Sexual exploitation of a child · Co. Dublin
Jail term doubled on appeal for sexual exploitation of child in Dublin
John Murphy, a 42-year-old maths and science teacher from Ballycullen, Co Dublin, engaged in sexually explicit Instagram conversations with a 15-year-old girl from County Wicklow over 12 months between June 2017 and June 2018, asking for naked pictures and saying he wanted to take her virginity. The case came to light after the girl's mother found the texts, and two devices seized from Murphy's home in January 2019 contained child pornography. Murphy pleaded guilty at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in July 2023 to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, and was sentenced on 21 July 2023 to three years with two suspended, plus 12 months concurrent for the pornography charge. On 26 February 2024, the Court of Appeal ruled the one-year effective sentence was too lenient and doubled it to two years.
- Reportednot reported
- Arrestednot reported
- Chargednot reported
- In court27 Mar
- Convicted20 Jul
- Sentenced21 Jul
3 reports
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet
Key facts
consolidated from all reports- What happened
- Murphy engaged in sexually explicit Instagram conversations with a 15-year-old girl (reports differ: 16) over 12 months, asking for naked pictures and saying he wanted to take her virginity.
- The child pornography material included 10 images and nine chat logs describing sexual acts, dating from around 2007 to 2010.
- Where
- The offending took place through Instagram messages; the girl lived in County Wicklow and Murphy was teaching maths and science at a school in Tallaght.
- When
- The sexual exploitation took place between June 2017 and June 2018; the child pornography possession covered December 2007 to December 2010.
- Investigation
- The case arose after the girl's mother found the Instagram texts, and two devices seized from Murphy's home in January 2019 contained child pornography.
- Charges
- Murphy pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in July 2023.
- In court
- The Court of Appeal ruled on 26 February 2024 that the one-year effective sentence was too lenient and doubled it to two years.
- Sentence
- Murphy was sentenced to three years for sexual exploitation with the final two years suspended, plus 12 months concurrent for child pornography, with conditions including a ban on unsupervised access to children and a therapeutic programme.
- Other details
- Murphy is a married father of one from Galway with no previous convictions who resigned from his teaching job in 2022.
- The girl initially told Murphy she was 17, then 16, when she was actually 15, and had been diagnosed as clinically depressed.
73 statements extracted from the articles
- whatMurphy looked for naked pictures of the girl and expressed a desire to have sex with her and take her virginity. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe pornographic material included 10 images and nine chat logs describing sexual acts. (irishtimes.com)
- whatWhen asked about kinks, Murphy replied: 'Apart from liking teenagers?' (irishtimes.com)
- whatHundreds of messages between Murphy and the girl contained explicit sexual conversations. (rte.ie)
- whatMurphy engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a schoolgirl online over a 12-month period. (irishtimes.com)
- whatMurphy asked the girl for naked pictures of herself via Instagram texts. (irishtimes.com)
- whatMurphy carried on communications with the 16-year-old for a whole year while she was doing her junior certificate exams. (thejournal.ie)
- whatMurphy resigned from his teaching job in Tallaght in 2022. (thejournal.ie)
- whatMurphy was 36 when he began contact with the girl. (thejournal.ie)
- whatIn text exchanges on Instagram, Murphy asked the girl for naked pictures and told her he wanted to be the one to take her virginity. (thejournal.ie)
- whatAccessing the child pornography material had taken place in 2007 to 2010. (thejournal.ie)
- whatThe complainant had referred to self-harm and had been diagnosed as clinically depressed years earlier. (thejournal.ie)
- whatMurphy offered an unreserved apology to his victim and expressed sincere remorse. (thejournal.ie)
- whereMurphy lives at Ferncourt Crescent, Ballycullen, Co Dublin. (irishtimes.com)
- whereMurphy was teaching mathematics and science at a school in Tallaght at the time of the offending. (irishtimes.com)
- whereMurphy was a maths and science teacher at a school in Tallaght at the time of the offence. (rte.ie)
- whereThe girl lived in County Wicklow. (rte.ie, thejournal.ie)
- whereThe offending took place through Instagram messages between the teacher and the girl. (thejournal.ie)
- whereMurphy is from Ferncourt Crescent, Ballycullen, Dublin. (thejournal.ie)
- whereMurphy lived in Ballycullen, Dublin. (irishtimes.com)
- whereMurphy was a teacher at a school in Tallaght at the time of the offence. (irishtimes.com)
- whereMurphy is a Galway native. (thejournal.ie)
- whenThe exchanges had been going on for around 12 months between June 2017 and June 2018. (irishtimes.com)
- whenThe pornographic material dated from around 2009. (irishtimes.com)
- whenThe sexual exploitation offence took place between June 2017 and June 2018. (rte.ie)
- whenThe sexual exploitation charge covers dates between June 2017 and June 2018. (thejournal.ie)
- whenThe sentence was handed down at a sentence hearing on a Friday. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe material was discovered after a Toshiba laptop was seized from Murphy's home in January 2019. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe case arose after the girl's mother examined her Instagram account. (rte.ie)
- investigationTwo devices seized from Murphy's home in January 2019 were found to contain child pornography. (rte.ie)
- investigationNo images of the girl were found on Murphy's computer, but she told gardaí she had sent him images of herself in her underwear. (thejournal.ie, irishtimes.com)
- chargeMurphy pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child between June 2017 and June 2018. (irishtimes.com)
- chargeMurphy pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography between December 2007 and December 2010. (irishtimes.com)
- chargeMurphy pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child. (rte.ie)
- chargeMurphy also pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography between December 2007 and December 2010. (rte.ie)
- chargeMurphy pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old girl. (thejournal.ie)
- chargeMurphy pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography between December 2007 and December 2010. (thejournal.ie)
- chargeMurphy pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of the 15-year-old victim between June 2017 and June 2018. (irishtimes.com)
- chargeMurphy also pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography relating to two videos of graphic content from 2008 and 2010. (thejournal.ie)
- courtJudge Patrick Quinn remanded Murphy on bail for a sentence date to be fixed in May. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe hearing took place at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe judge said he would rule on sentence the following day. (rte.ie)
- courtA sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court had earlier heard the case. (thejournal.ie)
- courtThe case was heard at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe Court of Appeal ruled the one-year jail term was too lenient and doubled the sentence. (thejournal.ie)
- courtMurphy pleaded guilty at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in July 2023. (thejournal.ie)
- courtRoisin Lacey SC for the DPP appealed the leniency of the sentence. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceMurphy was sentenced to three years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child, with the final two years suspended on conditions. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceConditions of the suspended sentence include two years under Probation Service direction after release and a ban on unsupervised access to children. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceA condition requires Murphy to take part in a therapeutic programme for sexually harmful offending. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceMurphy was sentenced to 12 months in prison for the child pornography offence, to run concurrently. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceMurphy's name will be placed on the register of sex offenders. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceJudge Quinn sentenced Murphy to three years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child, with the final two years suspended. (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe suspended part of the sentence includes a ban on unsupervised access to children. (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe suspended part of the sentence requires participation in a therapeutic programme for sexually harmful offending. (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceMurphy will be placed on the register of sex offenders. (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceMurphy was sentenced to 12 months for child pornography, to run concurrently. (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe sentencing judge set a headline sentence of six years, reduced it to three years, and suspended the final two years. (thejournal.ie)
- otherMurphy is a married father of one. (irishtimes.com)
- otherMurphy comes originally from Galway. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe girl initially told Murphy she was 17, then told him she was 16, when she was actually 15. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe girl informed gardaí that she had sent images of herself in her underwear to Murphy. (irishtimes.com)
- otherMurphy had not made any concrete attempt to meet the girl in person. (irishtimes.com)
- otherMurphy had no previous convictions. (irishtimes.com)
- otherMurphy's 20-year career as a teacher was over. (irishtimes.com)
- otherMurphy resigned from his teaching job in 2022. (rte.ie, thejournal.ie, irishtimes.com)
- otherMurphy has no previous convictions. (rte.ie)
- otherMurphy asked the girl for naked pictures of herself and said he wanted to be the one to take her virginity. (thejournal.ie)
- otherThe judge accepted that Murphy never made concrete plans to meet the victim in person. (thejournal.ie)
- otherThe judge said the gap in ages between the parties was an aggravating factor. (thejournal.ie)
- otherMurphy had no previous criminal convictions and co-operated with gardaí, including providing passwords to his devices. (thejournal.ie)
- otherMurphy entered an early guilty plea and apologised to the victim. (thejournal.ie)
- otherMurphy had no previous criminal convictions. (irishtimes.com, thejournal.ie)
The reporting
newest first- 26 Feb2024Teacher who sexually exploited teenage girl over Instagram has jail term doubled on appeal
Court of Appeal ruling on 26 February 2024 doubling the effective sentence from one year to two years; details of the appeal hearing, probation report findings, and resentencing by Justice George Birmingham.
victim, 16, femaleconvicted, John Murphy, 43, male, named, irish (judged from name)John Murphy - 21 Jul2023Teacher who asked schoolgirl for naked pictures online jailed for one year
Sentencing report. The offences took place between June 2017 and June 2018 (exploitation) and December 2007 and December 2010 (child pornography). The article also covers the conditions attached to the suspended sentence and the sex offenders register placement.
convicted, John Murphy, 42, male, named, irish (judged from name)John Murphyvictim, 15, female - 21 Jul2023Teacher who sexually exploited vulnerable schoolgirl online given 3-year prison sentence
Reports the sentence handed down on 21 July 2023, the judge's remarks, the suspended portion and probation conditions, the 12-month concurrent sentence for child pornography, and that Murphy resigned from teaching in 2022.
convicted, John Murphy, 42, male, named, irish (judged from name)John Murphyvictim, 15, female - 20 Jul2023Teacher admits sexual exploitation of a child
Reports Murphy's guilty pleas at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court on 20 July 2023, including the separate child pornography possession charge, and that sentence was to be decided later. Sentencing is covered by the existing case record.
convicted, John Murphy, 42, male, named, irish (judged from name)John Murphyvictim, 15, female - 27 Mar2023Former teacher asked young schoolgirl for naked pictures in sexual exchanges on Instagram, court told
Details of the guilty plea hearing at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court, including evidence from Det Garda Sandra Forde about the Instagram exchanges and laptop search, the girl's victim impact statement, defence submissions, and the judge's decision to remand on bail.
victim, 15, femaleaccused, John Murphy, 42, male, named, irish (judged from name)John Murphy