A court heard how two girls outsmarted a paedophile pensioner who had sexually abused them by recording him on their mobile phones admitting the abuse.
In 2021 one of the girls made a disclosure to a teacher and the complaint was referred to the Child and Family Agency, Tusla.
The agency ultimately determined after making inquires that there had been “accidental touching” and no further action was required.
The man (74) continued sexually abusing the girl and went on to sexually abuse another girl, a Circuit Criminal Court in Munster heard.
The man was eventually investigated and apprehended by members of a Protective Services Unit within An Garda Síochána which only investigates sex crimes, after the two young girls separately wrote letters to their parents outlining the abuse.
The girls also provided gardaí with audio and video recordings of the man admitting he was sorry for abusing them.
The man admitted a total of 29 counts of sexual assault against the two girls over a period of four years between 2021 and 2025, when the girls were aged between 11 and 14 and he was in his late 60s and early 70s.
The man was supported in court by his wife, who wept and hugged him in the courtroom as he was led into custody to await a sentence date in June.
“Unfortunately at the time Tusla concluded it was accidental touching. Despite one of the girls bravely raising matters, things were not recognised for what they were, but it was true,” the prosecuting barrister in the case told the court.
To protect the two victims’ right to anonymity, the court ordered reporting restrictions in respect of the naming of the man, and limited the reporting restrictions in respect of the locations to an area in “Munster”.
The abuse involved the man touching the girls’ breasts, buttocks, vagina and attempts to anally penetrate the girls, it was heard.
He also invited the girls separately to go to bed with him and they declined.
The abuse left the girls “frightened and distressed” and they each separately confronted him and recorded him on their mobile phones admitting the abuse.
The mobile phone audio and video recordings were played in court in which the man was heard attempting to minimise the abuse, but then apologising for it.
The man was also heard on the recordings attempting to “manipulate” each girl into not disclosing the abuse, telling them his wife would have a “heart attack” from the shock of it, and that he would harm himself.
Gardaí arrested the man in September 2025 and he made some admissions under caution.
The man’s barrister told the court the defendant’s lack of previous convictions and his signed guilty pleas warranted a “maximum discount at his sentencing”.
The defendant was remanded in continuing custody to June 3rd.